Journalist Serhiy Garmash, who is a member of the Ukrainian delegation to Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas settlement, has said the so-called "one-time inspection" of Ukrainian positions near the village of Shumy agreed on at a special meeting of the TCG's security subgroup was suspended most likely over Russia's ultimatum demands.
"As far as I know, Russia did not stop at the demands that it had put forward the day before, and, taking advantage of our compliance, it began to put forth more demands that were no longer one-time, but permanent, i.e. constant inspection of our positions by the military," he told Ukraine 24 TV channel on September 10.
According to Garmash, those requirements led to the suspension of the inspection.
"Of course, Ukraine cannot be happy with such ultimatum-like formulation of the question, that's why, apparently, we have suspended this inspection. Although I think – that's my subjective opinion, it is very hard to talk about maintaining the ceasefire after today's shelling [Russia-led forces attacked Ukrainian positions three times on September 10]," he added.
Read alsoDonbas war: Russian proxy forces open fire at site of "joint inspection" after move called offLatest developments in Donbas
- So-called "DPR leader" Denis Pushilin threatened to open fire on Ukrainian army positions from 08:00 a.m. local time on September 7.
- As grounds for such move, Pushilin claimed violations by Ukrainian forces of the latest ceasefire agreement sealed on July 22. He demanded that Ukrainian troops undo the trenches that had allegedly been dug after July 22, and warned that they "have every right" to act to eliminate the alleged violations.
- In turn, Commander of the Joint Forces, Lieutenant General Volodymyr Kravchenko said the Ukrainian troops had not violated any agreements.
- On September 6, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine confirmed there had been no violations of the ceasefire agreements by the Joint Forces.
- On September 9, participants in a Trilateral Contact Group meeting agreed on a joint inspection near Shumy with the participation of a representative of the OSCE coordinator.
- The President's Office said the relevant agreement on the inspection had been reached to refute fake news and prevent new provocations.
- On September 10, the Office of the President of Ukraine said the "one-time inspection" had been suspended over continuous change in the Russian side's demands.
