US representative in the OSCE accused Russia of hypocrisy
On Thursday, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Geneva, the U.S. Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Daniel Baer, referred to the Russian actions that instigate the continued conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent days as obstructionism, incitement and hypocrisy, Ukrinform reports.
"Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered the heaviest losses since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 2015," the representative of the United States said.
He stressed that the number victims is so high because joint Russian-separati
"Obstructionism and the intentional turmoil by Russia cast doubt on its commitment to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. During the previous meeting of the Permanent Council, where Ukraine, the EU, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States stressed the need for mutual withdrawal of the military forces, Russia again repeated its inciting and hypocritical rhetoric," Baer said.
He called on the Russian Federation to withdraw its troops and uphold its obligations to restore the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. "Russia and the separatists, which it supports, must immediately take concrete steps to reduce the tension and withdraw troops along the line of contact," the U.S. Representative to the OSCE said.
Previously it was reported that an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission drone in the occupied Donetsk recorded the presence of three 2S1 Gvozdika 122 mm self-propelled howitzers.
Observers also recorded the presence of a multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS BM-21 Grad, 122 mm) and 23 tanks (T-72).