Moscow calls for stepping up OSCE monitoring on Donbas contact line
MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - Russia has called for stepping up OSCE monitoring activity on the Donbas contact line, which should be conducted 24/7, the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department Director Andrei Kelin said.
"The efficiency of the Special Monitoring Mission should be bolstered, and its personnel and technical capacities should be beefed up," Kelin said at the opening of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference in Vienna.
"There is a need to step up monitoring on the contact line and in adjoining areas and, ideally, to shift to 24/7 monitoring," the senior Russian diplomat said.
The security of the OSCE monitors stationed in Donbas must be guaranteed, Kelin said. "It is necessary to prevent incidents similar to April 23, which killed a U.S. citizen. Hopefully, the independent investigative group will be able to identify the culprits," he said.
The mission should enhance coordination of its routes with local authorities for the sake of monitors' security, Kelin said.