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OSCE Chairman-in-Office calls on parties to Ukraine conflict to abstain from using force

The situation deteriorated at the contact line in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on June 3, when active hostilities were registered between Ukrainian servicemen and militiamen

VIENNA, June 5. /TASS/. All parties to the Ukrainian conflict should give up the use of force, observe the Minsk agreements and return to the negotiating table, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) quoted its Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic as saying.

"OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic today condemned the latest surge in violence in eastern Ukraine, and called on all parties to return to the negotiating table, pursue a political solution to the conflict through the Trilateral Contact Group and its working groups, as well as to fully respect the Minsk Agreements," the OSCE statement said.

"This is the only way to bring suffering of innocent civilians to an end," Dacic said.

"The use of force is unacceptable. I am particularly concerned about the use of proscribed heavy weapons, as well as the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, which is a gross violation of the Minsk Agreements," he said.

"All sides must refrain from the use of force, and strictly adhere to the ceasefire and other provisions of the Minsk Agreements, including the immediate withdrawal of heavy weapons."

"The Chairperson-in-Office also emphasized the importance of the safety and security of monitors from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM)," the OSCE said.

"Continued restrictions on the freedom of movement of monitors are inexcusable. They are a serious obstacle to the implementation and monitoring of a sustainable ceasefire," Dacic said.

The situation deteriorated at the contact line in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on June 3, when active hostilities were registered between Ukrainian servicemen and militiamen. DPR Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said "it was a large-scale provocation on the part of Ukrainian servicemen."​