VIENNA, November 28. /TASS/. The mine threat in close proximity to the Petrovskoyoe and Zolotoye disengagement areas persists, Russian Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Lukashevich said at a meeting of the organization’s Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday.
According to Lukashevich, efforts aimed at rectifying the Ukrainian armed forces’ violations at the Zolotoye and Petrovskoye disengagement areas, the withdrawal of forces and the completion of mine clearance create a favorable background for discussing measures to secure further de-escalation. "At the beginning of this week, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) received confirmation of dismantling fortifications in Zolotoye. It is stated that the disengagement has a positive humanitarian effect," Lukashevich said.
"Nevertheless, despite the completion of mine clearance inside the above-mentioned areas, the mine threat in close proximity to them persists. Under the pretext of the mine threat, some areas remain closed for full-fledged monitoring," he noted.
The completion of disengagement in Petrovskoye finalizes the process of disengaging forces and weapons in three security zones on the contact line, namely, near Petrovskoye (in the Donetsk People’s Republic), Zolotoye and Stanitsa Luganskaya (both in the Lugansk People’s Republic). A framework agreement on the disengagement of forces in Donbass was signed by Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics in September 2016. The parties resumed efforts to implement the 2016 agreement after the 2019 presidential election in Ukraine.