MOSCOW - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva has called on Russian parliamentarians to cooperate with the OSCE PA to promote a political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
Meeting with Russian Federation Council Chair Valentina Matviyenko on Sept. 4, Kanerva said the situation surrounding Ukraine is continuing to worsen, and the OSCE PA cannot be indifferent to this.
Kanerva said he implied efforts toward the conflict’s de-escalation and the arrangement of a sustainable political dialogue, which is extremely important now, taking into account the worsening humanitarian situation in the region.
The OSCE PA is urging Russia to display its commitment to OSCE principles, while the organization is seeking to perform its role as a mediator in settling the Ukraine crisis, so as to stop the conflict from spreading and prevent its destructive consequences together, he said.
Matviyenko responded that the OSCE in general plays a positive role in the Ukraine crisis.
“The main issue today is a ceasefire, and all efforts should be focused on this so as to start a negotiating process then. We expect the OSCE to promote the improvement of a humanitarian situation in southeastern Ukraine. We also support the work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and hope it will be impartial in its judgments about the events,” she said.
Matviyenko said she implied OSCE’s impartial judgments about war crimes committed by the Ukrainian armed forces and mass human rights abuses and shootings on Maidan and in Mariupol and the burning of civilians in Odesa.
Russia sees the OSCE’s role in conducting constitutional reform in Ukraine to ensure the legitimate rights of the people living in the southeastern part of the country, Matviyenko said. “Without this, it is difficult to expect an internal Ukrainian settlement. The rights of Russian Orthodox Church believers are massively infringed upon in Ukraine today, priests are being badly harassed, and there have been instances of murders, and the Ukrainian authorities are obstructing the work of Russian media outlets in any way they can and kill Russian journalists. The last case is the killing of Russian journalist Andrei Stenin,” Matviyenko said.
Russia also expects the OSCE mission to contribute to the international investigation into the MH17 crash in Ukraine, Matviyenko said. “We expect an open and impartial investigation. Immediately after the Boeing crash, there were unfounded accusations addressed to the militia and Russia,” she said.
“There is the impression that someone is deliberately dragging out the investigation so as not to name those who are truly responsible for this disaster,” Matviyenko said.
