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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin could not have been any more clear in an interview this weekend for the Associated Press: Russian military commanders and special forces are in “full command” of the militants in eastern Ukraine, and it is time for “real negotiations” to end the conflict. AP reports:
Klimkin said the rebels are persisting only because of Russian weaponry and military personnel crossing the border into eastern areas which the government doesn’t control.
He said international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe must have access to all areas in Donetsk and Luhansk. Now, he said, they don’t have access to up to 50 percent of the territory in the coal mining region.
The OSCE must also be present in the east from the very beginning of preparations for any election and must remain to ensure that voting is free and fair, he said.
Klimkin said Ukraine “can’t win militarily,” but it can be successful in the war because it has the support of an international community that views Russia as the aggressor.
Ukraine calls on Russia to negotiate end to war in east
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Ukraine's foreign minister is calling on Russia to come to "real negotiations" about a cease-fire and stabilization in Ukraine's war-torn east which will require fair elections that are internationally monitored. Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview with The Associated Press that Russian military and special forces are "in full command" in the rebel-controlled eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In a statement on their website, the Ukrainian foreign ministry also said that Russia was in violation of every principal that the OSCE stands for. Unian reports:
“Unfortunately, Russian aggression against Ukraine thwarted these ambitious plans and marred the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. Having illegally occupied and annexed Crimea with the city of Sevastopol, having invaded Donbas and kidnapped Ukrainian citizens, Russia has violated most of the principles and obligations that lay the OSCE’s grounds. Among them are sovereign equality, respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of frontiers, refraining from the threat or use of force, as well as fulfilment in good faith of obligations under international law,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says that it is obvious to Ukraine and the vast majority of the states participating in the OSCE that all the achievements within the framework of the CSCE/OSCE in 40 years of its existence are under threat without Russia’s restoring respect for the principles adopted in Helsinki and correcting the gross violations it has committed. Security and stability in the whole region is under threat, the ministry stressed.
— James Miller