“…We were, like the others, pleased to hear that during last week’s virtual meeting of the Normandy Format, the foreign ministers discussed the need to ensure full access for the Special Monitoring Mission. It is high time that Russia directed the forces it arms, trains, finances, leads and fights alongside in eastern Ukraine to stop impeding the critical work of the SMM and lay down their weapons.
“The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains dangerous and unpredictable, and there cannot be a secure environment for free and fair elections until Russia and its proxies cease hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine. But instead of taking any real steps toward ending the conflict that it foments and fuels, Moscow remains intent on trying to evade responsibility and cast itself as a mediator in this conflict, rather than the aggressor.