Ukraine Seeks Meeting With Russia, OSCE To Calm War Fears: Ukraine has called for a meeting with Russia and other members of a key European security group within the next 48 hours over the escalating tensions and the presence of more than 130,000 Russian troops on its border.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia had ignored formal requests to meet so the country is calling for an emergency meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for Russia to explain its build-up of troops. Under the Vienna Document, which Russia also agreed to and signed, OSCE members can ask for information on a member’s military activities.
“If Russia is serious when it talks about the indivisibility of security in the OSCE space, it must fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate tensions and enhance security for all,” Kuleba said.
UK, US Withdraw OSCE Observers:
The UK released a statement on Sunday, saying that they were withdrawing their security personnel due to concerns of their citizens due to the threat of Russian invasion, the US also agreed to follow suit.
“In line with our duty of care responsibilities, we have taken the decision to withdraw our UK secondees to the OSCE SMM. We will keep this under close review. We take the safety of our staff extremely seriously,” a spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said.
The OSCE has been monitoring the situation in Ukraine since 2014.
“The SMM is an unarmed, civilian mission, present on the ground 24/7 in all regions of Ukraine. Its main tasks are to observe and report in an impartial and objective way on the situation in Ukraine; and to facilitate dialogue among all parties to the crisis,” OSCE said in a released statement.
Russia Denounces Move to Withdraw Observers:
However, on Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the decision by the US and UK to withdraw observers from the OCSE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine stating that Washington is trying to provoke war in Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “These decisions cannot but cause serious concern with us…. The mission is being deliberately dragged into a militaristic psychosis being whipped up by Washington and used as a tool for possible provocation.”
“We call on the OSCE leadership to resolutely suppress attempts to manipulate the Mission and prevent the Organization from being dragged into unscrupulous political games played around it. We proceed from the fact that in conditions of artificially whipped up tension, the monitoring activities of the Mission in full compliance with its mandate are in demand more than ever,” she added.
US Won’t Confirm Reports Of Wednesday Timeline of Russian Invasion:
Senior US leaders on Sunday wouldn’t confirm earlier reports that were issued by American intelligence that Russia would attack Ukraine on Wednesday. While those details, as well as other intelligence releases, didn’t include any details, they weren’t denied either.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan skirted the issue of the Weds. timeline but repeated that a Russian invasion could begin any day and President Joe Biden has said he will support Ukraine if the Russians do indeed invade.
“We cannot perfectly predict the day, but we have now been saying for some time that we are in the window, and an invasion could begin… a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now. That includes this coming week before the end of the Olympics,” Sullivan told CNN in response to queries about the Wednesday timeline.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby also deflected any mention of the Wednesday timing of a Russian invasion while appearing on Fox News Sunday.
“I’m not in a position to confirm those reports,” Kirby said.
He reiterated that a Russian military action could take place any day.
“And again, these assessments are coming from a variety of sources. And not, not exclusively just inside intelligence, but also what we’re seeing in plain sight,” Kirby said. “More than 100,000 troops now continue to be arrayed against Ukraine’s border.”
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko was quoted as saying Ukraine was willing to be “flexible” over its goal to join NATO, which is a major redline with Russia and President Putin.
“We might – especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that, and pushed to it,” Prystaiko was quoted as saying when asked if Kyiv could change its position on NATO membership.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
