THE POLISH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS URGED RUSSIA TO RETURN ITS REPRESENTATIVES TO THE JMCC

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, it is believed that increased tensions are caused by the withdrawal of Russian representatives from the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Center (JMCC). It is reported by Upmp.news with the reference to UNIAN.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Russian Federation to immediately return its representatives to the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Center for the cease-fire and stabilization of the line of differentiation of the parties (JMCC). This statement was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland notes with concern the aggravation of the armed conflict in Ukraine, as confirmed by the estimates of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. The number of violations of the ceasefire in the Donbass has reached a level that has not been recorded since January 2017. We express the hope that the agreed at the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) meeting cease-fire regime, which comes into force on December 23, will be fully respected and that de-escalation attempts will be successful,” the statement said.

As UNIAN reported, on December 18, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia would suspend the work of its representatives in the JMCC through allegedly “intensed moral and psychological conditions” and “dismissive attitude of Ukrainian servicemen” to the Russian military. In addition, the Foreign Ministry noted that another reason for the recall of the officers is the introduction of Ukraine from January 1, 2018 a new order of entry and indwelling Russian citizens in the territory of Ukraine. In particular, the Russians do not want their fingerprints to be scanned while crossing the border. The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine believes that this decision of Russia substantially undermines the Minsk agreements. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission reported that insurgents took seats in the JMCC instead of Russian officers. On December 20, Yevhen Marchuk, the representative of Ukraine in the working group on safety issues of TCG, informed that Russia was ready to return its military to the SCCC under certain conditions: “Approval of the provisions on the JMCC, their status, security guarantees, etc.”. On December 21, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin discussed the conditions for the restoration of the work of the JMCC as well as the issue of exchanging Ukrainian hostages during telephone conversation.