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EU assessment mission on Donbas starts work — Poroshenko’s press service

Kiev believes it would be insufficient to increase the number of OSCE monitors for normalizing the situation in Donbas
Ukrainian soldier in Donbas EPA/SERGEY VAGANOV
Ukrainian soldier in Donbas
© EPA/SERGEY VAGANOV

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. The European Union assessment mission on analysing the situation in Donbas is beginning work in Ukraine on Thursday, the press service of the Ukrainian president has said.

This was discussed at the meeting in Aachen, Germany, between President Petro Poroshenko and European Council President Donald Tusk.

"The sides assessed positively the implementation of the decision reached at the Ukraine-EU summit on sending to Donbass the EU assessment mission on analysing the situation that is beginning its work today," the press service said.

Ukraine’s envoy to EU Konstantin Eliseyev said in late April that Kiev believed it would be insufficient to increase the number of OSCE monitors for normalizing the situation in Donbas. He said the possible sending the EU mission to eastern Ukraine "had more prospects."

Eliseyev said Kiev had sent its proposals to the EU which detail 15 possible tasks that could be performed by the future mission.

Russia’s OSCE envoy Andrey Kelin said earlier that Kiev’s call for UN peacekeepers and the EU police mission in Donbas was aimed at attracting attention rather than calming down the situation.

"We believe that the OSCE presence there is enough and the mission needs to be enhanced and strengthened," the diplomat said.