Donbas militia cannot guarantee OSCE monitor security in Debaltseve
DONETSK. Feb 18 (Interfax) - The Donbas militia cannot guarantee security for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Debaltseve, as fighting is still under way there, says Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic (DPR) envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group for settling the Ukraine crisis.
"At the same time, we have warned the OSCE that it is still dangerous to visit the Debaltseve area, and the DPR cannot provide guarantees of the mission's security if it visits Debaltseve, because shells are bursting and bullets are whistling there," Pushilin told the Donetsk news agency in commenting on the possibility of admitting OSCE Special Monitoring Mission members to Debaltseve.
Andrei Kelin, Russia's permanent representative at the OSCE, had made a similar statement earlier. "Nobody can make such security guarantees at the moment," Kelin said.