Donetsk, Jul 21 - DAN. Bringing DPR and LPR representatives back to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) as full-scale members will ease and optimize its operation, said DPR People’s Council Chairman Denis Pushilin.
"We understand the importance of the JCCC work and the efficiency of the return of our representatives as its members. This will allow the JCCC to react immediately to escalations, to set up watch points, to arrive to shelled sites within a short period of time, to faciitate evacuation of wounded."
Pushilin added that the full-scale membership of the Republics in the JCCC will benefit cooperation of the Center with OSCE SMM and other international organizations, and that in its turn will clear the way to peaceful settlement.
DPR envoy to Minsk negotiations said that the issue of DPR and LPR membership in the JCCC had been raised in Minsk at the security subgroup meetings multiple times.
"We have been reminding of the necessity to relaunch our official participation in the JCCC on equal terms as it used to be before the Ukrainian side introduced special terms of crossing the contact line in Donbass on 22 January 2015."
The above-mentioned order deprived the Republics' representatives of safety guarantees while crossing the contact line.
"It actually blocked the possibility of presence in the JCCC for the DPR and LPR representatives."
Earlier in the day Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich said it was reasonable to bring Donetsk and Lugansk representatives to the JCCC, adding that the step would facilitate the coordination of safety issues in Donbass. He urged the OSCE SMM to establish 'closer contacts with the forces on the site and to contribute to the dialogue between the sides'. *ot