The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde, expressed regret that no consensus could be reached on the extension of the mandate of the Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk on the Russian-Ukrainian border, an important component of the OSCE’s response to the crisis in and around Ukraine.
The Mission is tasked to monitor and report on the situation as well as on the movement across the border and was deployed on 24 July 2014, following the Joint Declaration by the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on 2 July 2014, in which they reconfirmed their commitment to sustainable peace and stability in Ukraine. The Mission’s current mandate expires on 30 September 2021. On 2 September, the Russian Federation informed the OSCE participating States that it would not support the extension of the mandate of the Observer Mission. Läs pressmeddelande