Kuleba calls on OSCE to respond to Russia’s blackmail and neglect

15.06.2021 17:40

Ukrinform

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has called on the OSCE to harshly respond to Russia’s blackmail and neglect when ignoring the charter obligations of a member of the Organization and groundlessly shortening the mandate of the Observer Mission at Russia’s Gukovo and Donetsk checkpoints.

Kuleba said this at a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde in Kyiv on June 15, an Ukrinform correspondent reports

“It is very difficult and painful for us in Kyiv to see how Russia consistently neglects the OSCE,” Kuleba said.

In this context, he recalled that Moscow had refused to explain the buildup of its troops on Ukraine’s border, which is the responsibility of the OSCE Vienna Document participants, and also undermines confidence by withdrawing from the Treaty on Open Skies. In addition, in May Russia forced the OSCE to shorten the mandate of the Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk on the border with Ukraine, and is now threatening to close these missions completely.

According to the minister, the purpose of these efforts is obvious to everyone – Russia does not want independent OSCE observers to see "any military action taken by Russia along the Ukrainian-Russian border."

“Ukraine insists that this mission at Gukovo and Donetsk checkpoints continue to work after July 31. Russia’s blackmail and contempt for the OSCE can only be stopped by the principled position and actions of the Organization, and Ukraine will always stand by the OSCE in this struggle,” Kuleba said

As Ukrinform reported, the Russian Federation prevented the standard four-month extension of the mandate of the Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints at Gukovo and Donetsk, reducing it to two months without objective reasons.

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