Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called unacceptable the level of violence and the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine and called for ensuring access of humanitarian organizations to the region.
“The level of violence that we still see is unacceptable. It remains vital that all sides fully implement the Minsk Agreements and strictly respect the ceasefire to which they have repeatedly committed themselves. In this respect, the OSCE’s Monitoring Mission (SMM) plays an important role to monitor the ceasefire and avoid a further escalation of the conflict,” Kurz told Interfax in an interview before his visit to Russia.
“During my first visit as OSCE chairman to eastern Ukraine in January last year I saw the unacceptable situation for civilians there. We must improve the living conditions for the local population, especially along the contact line. For this, access of humanitarian organizations is crucial,” Kurz said.
“I am glad that we managed during our chairmanship to reach an agreement about enlarging the mission’s footprint thereby increasing the reach and accuracy of monitoring. Furthermore, the OSCE with its Trilateral Contact Group demonstrated its crucial role in brokering the ceasefire co-operation,” he said.
