You're reading: Moscow says some OSCE SMM demands go beyond Minsk deal

The demand of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) for baseline information about weapon storage sites is at variance with the Minsk agreements, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“The mission says that the sides have been obstructing the verification process by their denial to provide baseline information about the types of heavy weapons and weapon storage sites,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a press briefing on March 26.

“Yet we think that the mission’s demand for detailed information of the sides about places where withdrawn heavy weapons are amassed or stored goes beyond the Minsk agreement reached on February 12, 2015,” Lukashevich said.

Moscow has also noticed “major impediments to mission operations which are limiting its freedom of movement in the security zone,” he said.

“[OSCE] reports are more frequently mentioning cases in which monitors are not allowed passing through roadblocks and told to show their passports for identification of their citizenship,” Lukashevich said.