“Initiatives to increase security of SMM monitors are crucial,” Kurz noted

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz welcomed the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to strengthen the protection of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine. The diplomat wrote this on his Twitter page.

“Initiatives, including by the UN, to increase security of SMM monitors are crucial,” Kurz noted.

“Welcome talks between Chancellor Merkel and President Putin on improving safety of OSCE SMM in Ukraine,” he also wrote.

Putin proposed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to deploy UN peacekeepers not only along the line of demarcation in the Donbas, but also "in other places where the OSCE SMM conducts its inspections."

As it was reported earlier Putin agreed to deploy UN peacekeepers not only along contact line. Russia concedes to deploy peacekeepers where the SMM OSCE is operating.