Kuleba, Rau discuss steps to strengthen effectiveness of OSCE SMM in Ukraine

10.02.2022 17:53

Ukrinform

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has held talks with Zbigniew Rau, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Poland's Foreign Minister, who is visiting Ukraine on his first foreign visit as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service has said.

In particular, Kuleba informed Rau in detail about the current situation in the area of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, the report said.

He stressed that despite a significant build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine's border, the overall security situation in the temporarily occupied territories in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions is currently relatively stable.

"This is evidence that the active diplomacy of Ukraine and its partners is yielding results: reducing tensions and keeping the situation under control," Kuleba said.

Kuleba thanked Rau for including the issue of returning peace to Ukraine in the key priorities of the Polish chairmanship in the OSCE. He also expressed support for Poland's new initiative to launch the Renewed OSCE European Security Dialogue.

"Ukraine has supported Poland's initiative for the Renewed OSCE European Security Dialogue, which will consist of three clusters. It is time to discuss such critical issues as military security, reducing the risk of military clashes and increasing the transparency of military activity," Kuleba said.

He stressed the need for a proactive approach when discussing security issues with Russia: "The Russian Federation must answer the question of how it -- as a country that commits aggression and escalates the situation -- plans to ensure its own security without damaging the security of other countries."

Kuleba and Rau also discussed steps to increase the effectiveness of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Kuleba stressed the need to increase the OSCE SMM's presence in the temporarily occupied territories. In this regard, he called it unacceptable that the Russian occupation administration imposes restrictions on the freedom of movement of international observers in Luhansk.

Both parties also paid special attention to unblocking the work of the Trilateral Contact Group.

Finally, Kuleba asked the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to prepare an OSCE thematic report on the threats coming from the mass in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.