US Mission OSCE demands Russia to end attempts to occupy new territories
The U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has called on Russia to end attempts to seize new territory beyond the line of contact, according to the chief of the Mission, Kate M. Byrnes, who spoke at an OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna January 31.
In her address to the Permanent Council, Byrnes reminded that Ukraine had "called for an immediate period of silence to allow repairs to critical infrastructure" in Avdiyivka, adding that it is "also attempting to convene an emergency meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group and has urged the Special Monitoring Mission to step up patrols in the area."
"Nonetheless, combined Russian-separatist forces have insisted they will continue to fight until Ukrainian forces retreat," Byrnes said. "Russia and the separatists initiated the violence in Avdiivka."
"We call on Russia to stop the violence, honor the ceasefire, withdraw heavy weapons, and end attempts to seize new territory beyond the line of contact," said the chief of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE.
Noting that the temperatures have dropped far below freezing in Ukraine, Byrnes emphasized that "without water, electricity, or heat, the lives of thousands of people are at stake".
She urged the combined Russian-separatist forces to halt their attack on Avdiyivka: "They must stop the violence and allow repairs to critical infrastructure. Most of all, Russia and the separatists must demonstrate their willingness to fully abide by the ceasefire, a primary component of the Minsk agreements that they have so often broken."
Source: UNIAN