Ukraine requests Russian ceasefire observers for Donbas
Ukraine has asked for Russia to send representatives to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in the Donbas.
“As part of the TCG (Trilateral Contact Group) session, Ukraine submitted a request for Russia to return to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination,” wrote Darka Olifer, press secretary to Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s representative in the TCG, on Facebook.
According to her, this decision was prompted by the growing number of ceasefire violations by the rebels in recent weeks. Olifer said that the bilateral Russian-Ukrainian mechanism for monitoring the ceasefire should be restored.
The JCCC is a joint group to monitor compliance with the Minsk protocol that started operating on September 26, 2014. Since April the following year, Ukraine and Russia began reporting different ceasefire violation statistics. On December 19, 2017, all 75 officers of the aggressor-state left the JCCC and returned to Russia.
The Ukrainian politician Roman Bezsmertnyi said previously that Russia wanted the Ukrainian military to kill Deinego and Kobtseva so that it could begin an offensive. He also said that, after the attack on the infantry, the border control point and the water should have been closed, and the Minsk process should have been suspended.