MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - Forty more observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will join the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMMU), an announcement on OSCE SMMU Twitter Tuesday reads.
"SMMU on track to increase its monitors to 500. We look forward to welcome 40 new monitors on Sunday," OSCE SMMU said on Twitter.
Earlier on Tuesday Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko asked the OSCE to increase the number of observers in eastern Ukraine to 1,500.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was deployed in March at the request of Ukrainian authorities and a consensus agreement by the 57 OSCE participating states. The mission is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and aims to decrease tensions and promote peace, stability and security in the region.
The Ukrainian government and independence supporters from the country's eastern regions agreed to a ceasefire during the September 5 Contact Group meeting in Minsk. Another meeting of the group, held on September 19, resulted in the adoption of a nine-point memorandum, specifying the provisions of the ceasefire.
Since the establishment of the ceasefire, the opposing sides have repeatedly accused one another of violating the truce, although the OSCE said last month that the ceasefire was generally holding.
