The work of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine has been suspended due to Russiaʼs veto of the relevant decision. Russia vetoed the unanimous decision of 57 OSCE member states to extend the mandate.
Thiswas announced in a statement by the OSCE.
“I deeply regret that we could not reach an agreement on the extension of the Special Monitoring Missionʼs mandate due to the position of the Russian Federation. For the past eight years, the Mission has been playing a crucial role by providing objective information on the security and humanitarian situation on the ground and relentlessly working to ease the effects of the conflict on the civilian population,” stressed OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau.
He underlined that Polish Chairmanship will continue consultations with the participating States on the OSCEʼs future role and presence in Ukraine.
The Special Monitoring Mission was established in March 2014, following a request by the Ukrainian government to the OSCE, and a consensus decision by all 57 participating States.