Ukraine urges accelerated talks to create armed OSCE police mission

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for OSCE Head Sebastian Kurz to accelerate talks to introduce an armed OSCE police mission in occupied Donbas, the president’s press-service reported on June 7. In his meeting with Kurz, Poroshenko referred to “the Kremlin’s brutal violation of the Minsk Accords, as evidenced by the latest deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Donbas.” The Russian-backed forces continue to intimidate OSCE observers as part of a strategy to restrict their access to Donbas with the ultimate goal of excluding them altogether, the president told Kurz. He called for improve technical ability for the mission to conduct remote monitoring of the armed conflict.

The Russian government is blocking the discussion on creating an armed OSCE police mission in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said at a joint press conference with Kurz on June 7. “The police mission is an issue that must be agreed upon,” he said, as reported by the pravda.com.ua news site. “There should be a mandate that gives us the possibility of preparing for future elections.” An armed OSCE police mission will help in that regard, he said. The next major vote is the presidential election, scheduled for March 2019.

Zenon Zawada: Not only are the Russians not interested in an armed OSCE police mission, but OSCE member-states made clear in January this year that they don’t support one either, which is why this discussion has stalled for more than a year. These member-states don’t want to get any more involved in this messy conflict than they already are. Moreover, the Russian-backed forces have shown no hesitation in intimidating the currently unarmed OSCE mission, and we believe they will grow even more aggressive should armed police be introduced. OSCE member-states are aware of this possibility as well.

Even if the OSCE does agree to an armed police mission, the Russians will demand a sizable representation of their own loyal officers, which will inevitably stall the mission’s activity and undermine its effectiveness. So we believe the Poroshenko administration knows how unlikely the armed mission will be, but it is raising the issue to demonstrate to the public that it is exploring every possible avenue to resolve this armed conflict.