(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Russian-supported separatists in eastern Ukraine prevented Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors from doing their jobs by blocking access to large areas of territory under their control, US said.
On Thursday, monitors were blocked from entering parts of an area just east of Mariupol, "and we applaud the efforts of the OSCE to broker a local cease-fire there," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said during a briefing on Friday.
The Russian-backed separatists signed the Minsk agreement and implementation plan allowing OSCE monitors access to verify the cease- fire and withdrawal of heavy weapons, Harf noted.
"This is not happening," she said. "Denying access to the OSCE gives the appearance the separatists have something to hide. We again call for free and unfettered access throughout Ukraine and for the OSCE up to and including the Ukraine-Russia border, and urge all sides to work with the OSCE to prevent further violence."
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