Ukraine in OSCE calls on Russia to withdraw troops

31.08.2018 14:53

Ukrinform

Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the international organizations in Vienna Ihor Lossovsky has called for cessation of Russian occupation of Crimea and aggression in Donbas at the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.

The text of his statement was made public on Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry website.

"The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine must be restored fully within its internationally recognized borders. It is the only viable way of resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and mitigating its dire humanitarian impact. We again urge the Russian Federation to reverse the illegal occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol, and to stop its aggression, including by withdrawing its armed formations from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and fully implementing its commitments under the Minsk agreements," Lossovsky said.

According to him, the meaningful international presence is a key to resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. At the same time, Ukraine witnesses no progress in addressing a number of security and humanitarian challenges brought by the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, as the Russian side continues denying its role and responsibility as a party to the conflict.

The Ukrainian diplomat drew attention of the international community to human rights violations in Crimea and Donbas.

"The Russian occupation administration keeps persecuting, detaining and torturing the dissenting voices, national minorities, and human rights defenders. The occupants search their houses, intimidate their families, and ban public gatherings. Only in the first half of this year, 66 searches of houses, 73 detentions and 89 interrogations were held in the temporarily occupied Crimea. As the Russian Federation keeps denying access of the international humanitarian organizations and NGOs to the occupied territories of Ukraine, this is obviously only a fraction of systematic human rights violations taking place on the daily basis," Lossovsky said.

We share the SMM views that systematic restrictions imposed by the Russian armed formations considerably hinder the SMM’s monitoring activities, including its monitoring of the security aspects of the Minsk agreements, he noted.