“Much depends on different factors, including the fate of the Minsk agreements. The February agreements reached in Minsk expire at the end of 2015 and it’s unclear what will happen in the future. It seems the Ukrainians are unprepared to carry over the Minsk agreements into next year,” Lukashevich told RIA Novosti in an interview.
In February, representatives of the Kiev government and independence supporters from eastern Ukraine signed a ceasefire agreement in the Belarus capital, Minsk, but have repeatedly blamed each other for violating the deal.
Lukashevich said that the OSCE monitoring mission’s existence in eastern Ukraine is tied to the Minsk agreements and would put their activities under question.
“The mission’s work is tied not only to its mandate, but also to the Minsk agreements, which actually complement it. The Minsk [agreements] are the ‘Bible’ not only for all of the local politicians, but also for the roadmap for the mission itself,” the Russian envoy said.
The OSCE mission, deployed in eastern Ukraine in 2014 to monitor the region, has been expecting extension in recent weeks, according to the OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier. The move was reportedly triggered by movement of military equipment in the eastern Ukrainian areas controlled by Kiev.
