The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, called on the parties to an armed conflict in the east of Ukraine for an immediate cessation of violence and the steady performance of the Minsk agreements, the OSCE official website has reported.
“My deepest condolences and sympathy go to the families who have lost loved ones and to those who have been injured. I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the full implementation of the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014 and the Memorandum of September 19, 2014,” Dacic said.
He noted that in the course of the past 24 hours the situation has rapidly deteriorated in eastern Ukraine impacting innocent civilians. Lives have been lost and many have been injured. OSCE Chairman called on “all parties” to refrain from violence and massive use of weapons.
Dacic also pointed to the Declaration adopted by the representatives of the OSCE’s 57 participating States at a special meeting of the Permanent Council in Vienna on 20 January 2015, which called for an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of the Minsk documents.
“The current conflict cannot be settled through violence but only through dialogue, which must be resumed as soon as possible in order for the suffering of civilians to stop,” he said.
