Russia is the only OSCE participating state that blocks the expansion of the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine to the entire section of the Ukraine-Russian border adjacent to the temporarily occupied areas in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"We deeply regret that the Russian Federation persists in opposing expansion of the mandate of the OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints 'Gukovo' and 'Donetsk' to all sections of the border that is temporarily not under control of the Ukrainian authorities. Such expansion enjoys support of the OSCE Participating States, except the Russian Federation," Ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna, said in an interpretive statement to the 1184th meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on May 3, 2018.
"Opposition of Russia can only be attributed to its unchanged position on continuing fueling the conflict in Ukraine's Donbas, including by supplying heavy weapons, military equipment, regular troops, fighters and mercenaries, sponsoring and financing terrorist acts in the territory of Ukraine," he said.
Ukraine's ambassador also called on Russia to demonstrate its full commitment to the implementation of the Minsk arrangements in good faith and to allow proper and comprehensive permanent monitoring by the OSCE on the Russian side of the Ukrainian-Russian state border adjacent to the certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions with establishment of a security zone in border areas of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
