Up to 500 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers will monitor the ceasefire agreements in Ukraine in the near future, and the organization has already announced the recruitment of more personnel for the purpose, Russian envoy to the OSCE Andrei Kelin said.
“We decided to set a ceiling of up to 500 people. This is the ceiling that is stipulated by the effective decision of March 1,” Kelin told Interfax on Sept. 10.
About 60 OSCE monitors will start performing their functions in the near future, he said.
“About 60 people have been relocated and are starting to do their job in the east [of Ukraine] in the near future. They have been relocated from western regions [of Ukraine], where the need for them is not that urgent,” he said.
Another 15 specialists will be relocated from the Caucasus and the Balkans, he said.
In addition, the OSCE has announced the recruitment of 250 more monitors, he said.
