News and press releases

KYIV, Ukraine, 19 April, 2014 –Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Amb. Ertugrul Apakan, met today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the participants of the 17 April Geneva meeting – the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States.

Teams of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) gauged reaction to the Geneva Statement of 17 April. The situation in Western and Central Ukraine remains calm. In Luhansk and Donetsk districts it is tense owing to the continued activity of armed opponents of the central government. In the southern part of the country and in other parts of Eastern Ukraine, the situation was assessed as stable and relatively calm.

The situation in Western and Central Ukraine remains calm, whereas in Luhansk and Donetsk districts it is tense due to the activity of armed opponents of the central government, and Ukrainian special forces conducting a “counter-terrorist operation”. In the southern part of the country and in other parts of Eastern Ukraine some tension was felt and, overall, the number of roadblocks in Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson and Odessa appeared to have increased.

Bern, April 17, 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter welcomed the outcome of the discussions between the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, the United States and the Russian Federation as well as the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who met today in Geneva.

VIENNA, 17 April 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the seizure of the television tower in Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine...

The situation in Western and Central Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi) remained calm and stable on 16 April with a routine police presence. In Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson and Odessa districts the situation is stable. On highways in these areas, roadblocks have been built to secure districts from forces opposed to the Kyiv government. In Luhansk and Donetsk the situation was cause for serious concern due to the ongoing occupation of some administrative buildings and capture of other strategic locations by armed individuals.

KYIV, 17 April 2014- The OSCE’s National Dialogue Project in Ukraine completed its field work today. The project was deployed in March 2014 to explore how the OSCE can contribute to social cohesion and tolerance amid the current crisis...