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.

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dačić, reiterated his profound regret for the loss of lives and called upon all sides to refrain from violence and indiscriminate use of weapons.

"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 5 September 2014 and the Memorandum of 19 September 2014," said Dačić.

The Chairperson-in-Office 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," said Dačić.



Photo by:OSCE/Micky Kroell