The security watchdog in Ukraine has expressed its concerns over the continuing fighting.<br /><br /> Nonetheless, the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is optimistic both sides will respect the ceasefire deadline on Sunday.<br /><br /> OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier told reporters in Kyiv: “We really expect these hostilities to terminate by the deadline that was set in Minsk.”<br /><br /> As the battle also rages for control of the strategic town of Debaltseve, Zannier told euronews his focus is on prisoner releases and heavy weapon removal. <br /><br /> “We shouldn’t assign Debaltseve to one side or another. We should really make sure, that the fighting stops, they will go beyond the heavy weapons – we need to work now on the heavy weapons, on releasing of the prisoners. These will be concrete moves towards de-escalation.”<br /><br /> The OSCE says it is also preparing to send a team of monitors to the Russian-Ukraine border even though such a move is not required by the Minsk agreement.
