“Russia wants escalation in Donbas”: Ukraine comments on refusal to extend OSCE mission

At a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, Russia stated that it would not support the extension of the mandate of the OSCE mission at the Russian checkpoints across the state border "Hukovo" and "Donetsk" after September 30. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine believes that in this way, the Russian Federation wants an escalation in Donbas.

The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported this.

"We consider such a decision of the Russian Federation as evidence of its plans to continue and increase supplies of weapons, military equipment, ammunition, regular troops, and mercenaries to the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which could lead to further escalation in the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict," the message reads.

The Foreign Ministry has condemned Russia's destructive position and considers it in the context of Moscow's other actions aimed at blocking progress in international political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict.

"Ensuring transparency on the Russian-Ukrainian border is an integral prerequisite for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict," the ministry added.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that Ukraine demanded that Russia immediately stop the destructive actions of the OSCE monitoring mission, fulfill all its commitments under the Minsk agreements to de-escalate the security situation, and further resolve the armed conflict by political and diplomatic means.