Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin explained Ukraine’s position on armed OSCE mission in Donbas. He held a speech at Kyiv Security Forum, aired by “112 Ukraine”.
According to Klimkin, representatives of the long-term mission must be armed, whereas, election observation mission must not carry weapons. Thus, Klimkin pointed out to distinctions between OSCE police and observation missions.
“OSCE must monitor Russia-Ukraine border. We believe that OSCE mission must be armed, otherwise, it will be incredibly hard for them to implement the mission. Observers, on the other hand, will not be armed. OSCE police and observation missions must be strictly distinguished”, - Klimkin explained.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko discussed prospects of placing OSCE police mission in Donbas with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and President of France Francois Hollande. Yesterday, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin also called for placing armed representatives of OSCE near the line of contact.
