US ‘disturbed’ by Ukraine peace monitoring obstruction

A top US diplomat on Tuesday slammed that armed groups have blocked international observers monitoring restive regions in Ukraine as Washington and Russia prepare for a high-profile diplomatic meeting this week.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) last weekend said obstructions faced by its monitors in conflict-scarred Ukraine “have escalated to a new level”, calling for “the immediate removal of the restrictions”.

The OSCE deployed its peace-monitoring mission in Ukraine in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of armed conflict between Kiev and pro-Russia separatists in the country’s east, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the organisation, told AFP it was “deeply disturbing” that access for the monitors had been blocked.

He added the monitors had also been “harassed” and called on Russia to “fulfil its obligations” under international agreements to ensure there is a ceasefire and “unfettered access” for monitors.

“Those commitments are being violated today,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend a major annual OSCE gathering in Stockholm this weekend — the first time since 2017 that both Washington and Moscow’s chief diplomats will attend.

The Black Sea is a sensitive region for Russia, which controls the Crimean peninsula after annexing it from Ukraine in 2014.

Amid heightened tension, NATO on Tuesday warned Moscow it would pay a high price if it invades Ukraine, while Blinken threatened “serious consequences”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cautioned the West not to cross the Kremlin’s “red lines”.