Russia has refused to attend the OSCE special meeting

LAST UPDATE: 15.02

Russia will not attend the special OSCE meeting requested by the Baltic states, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

Ukraine has called for an emergency OSCE meeting with Russia, accusing Moscow of failing to provide information on mass movements of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, as well as the Baltic states, of “unusual military mobility” in Belarus.

The meeting requested by the countries will take place on Monday, the Polish OSCE chairmanship told RIA Novosti.

“The meeting will take place today (17:00 Moscow time),” the Polish presidency said. It was not immediately clear if Belarus would take part in the meeting.

It is reminded that Kiev announced on Sunday said it wanted talks with Russia and members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) within 48 hours to discuss Russian military assistance near the Ukrainian border, according to Reuters.

According to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said yesterday that the Ukrainian authorities requested the meeting because of Moscow’s failure to respond to Kiev’s request for information on military activities on the country’s border.

It is recalled that on Friday, Kuleba reported that Kiev requested an explanation from Russia on military activities in the areas adjacent to the territory of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister had stressed that Kiev was waiting for a response from Russia within 48 hours with information on the areas of military activity and the number of military personnel.

Russia has not responded to our request for a Vienna document. along our borders and in the temporarily occupied Crimea (Ukraine considers Crimea occupied). “to reduce tensions and strengthen security for all participating states,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter yesterday.