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OSCE, Ukraine, Russia set up joint centre to coordinate ceasefire in Ukraine

The decision was made at the Group’s meeting in Kiev on October 2

© AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, file

VIENNA, October 4. /TASS/. The joint centre set up by Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in East Ukraine will coordinate the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the country, the Trilateral Contact Group said on Saturday.

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Contact Group notes progress in Ukraine’s east but concerned about ceasefire violations

The decision was made at the Group’s meeting in Kiev on October 2.

“Having noted a certain progress with regard to the de-escalation of the situation in the region of Donbas, the participants of the meeting express their concern about continuing violations of the cease-fire regime and agreements reached as a result of consultations, such as the Minsk Protocol of 5 September and the Minsk Memorandum of 19 September 2014,” the Contact Group said.

It welcomed “the start of work in Debaltsevo of the Joint Centre on Control and Coordination of issues related to the ceasefire regime and the stabilisation of the situation, with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE”.

The members of the Trilateral Contact Group expressed strong hope that the Joint Centre “will promote a further de-escalation of the situation in the region of Donbas and ensure the effective control and verification by the OSCE of the existing agreements on compliance with the ceasefire regime, the withdrawal of illegal armed formations and their equipment from the territory of Ukraine, as well as the establishment of an effective control over the Ukrainian-Russian border”.

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