French and German specialists to monitor Russian-Ukrainian border, Russian official says

Russia believes the OSCE Permanent Council's decision to send a monitoring group to the Russian-Ukrainian border is a crucial step, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin says.

"The idea was suggested by Russia and we believe it is an absolutely essential move required by the July 2 Berlin declaration," the Russian diplomat says.

Karasin noted that the international team will mainly include German, French and Swiss nationals.