WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States is urging the Russian government to use its influence with groups in eastern Ukraine to allow access to civilian monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Thursday.
"The United States calls on Russia to use its influence to end this campaign of intimidation and honor its commitment to allow free, full and safe access to the OSCE monitors," Nauert told reporters.
In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered by the Normandy Four states (Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine), the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.
