Ertugrul Apakan, the chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, says the withdrawal of heavy weapons in Donbas has only started, calling on the conflicting parties to step up the process.
Speaking through a video link during a UN Security Council session dealing with the situation in Ukraine on Friday, Apakan said that, as concerns the withdrawal of heavy weapons, OSCE monitors started monitoring movements of heavy weapons from the line of contact at several locations on Feb. 28.
While the SMM could not determine the origin of these weapons or their final storage sites, the withdrawals themselves are a positive event, he said.
Apakan said also that the fighting has significantly decreased in the entire conflict area, although some clashes were recorded near the Donetsk airport and not far from Mariupol.
