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Russian MP urges OSCE, Normandy four to step up Minsk process

A lawmaker says the Ukrainian army is still shelling the DPR despite the peace agreements

© AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, archive

DONETSK, August 2 /TASS/. Denis Pushilin, who represents the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic at the Minsk talks, has urged the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and the "Normandy four" countries to exert pressure on Ukraine and make it step up the Minsk process.

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"We have been trying to reach an agreement on all the three points of disengagement of the parties in conflict with an aim to significantly reduce tensions on the line of contact. The problem is that Ukraine does not need that just as it does need the implementation of all the other points of the package of measures [Minsk-2]," Pushilin said in a statement published by the Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday.

"We are calling on OSCE SMM, which coordinates the negotiating process, and the ‘Normandy four’ representatives who guarantee the implementation of the package of measures [Minsk-2] to take more resolute measures against Ukraine," Pushilin went on to say.

He added that the Ukrainian army was still shelling the DPR territory every day despite the existence of 13 steps provided by the peace agreements and regular negotiations held by the Contact Group for the Donbass settlement.

"The republic’s territory has been shelled more than 2,000 times over the past three days. One civilian has died and three have received serious injuries. Twenty-eight homes have been damaged and the infrastructure has been destroyed," Pushilin said.

The Ukrainian side shells populated localities in the DPR territory in the presence of OSCE monitors and representatives of other international organizations.

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy Eastern Ukraine

Military operation in Ukraine

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