Today Maria Zakarova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, issued a statement commenting on the relocation of part of the staff of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. She observed that “a number of countries” had decided to redeploy their nationals out of OSCE service in Ukraine, which the OSCE said was “due to deteriorating security conditions.”
Zakharova was quoted today by various news agencies, including AFP and Sputnik as saying: “These decisions cannot but cause us serious concern. The mission is purposefully dragged into the Washington-inflated militaristic psychosis and used as a tool for a possible provocation. We call on the leadership of the OSCE to resolutely stop attempts to manipulate the Mission and prevent the Organization from being drawn into the unscrupulous political games being played around it. We presume that in conditions of artificially escalated tension, the monitoring activities of the Mission in full accordance with its mandate are in demand more than ever.”
