Moscow wants idea of OSCE monitors at Ukrainian border checkpoints be reviewed with ceasefire termination
MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - The proposal of deploying OSCE monitors at checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border should be discussed again after the ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine was terminated, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.
"When our president made this proposal, the armistice extension was a mandatory precondition. Since the military operation and bloodshed have been resumed, the conditions in which this should be discussed have changed qualitatively," Karasin told Interfax on Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet with the French, German, and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Berlin on Wednesday.
"Sergei Lavrov is flying to Berlin this afternoon, where a meeting between the Russian, German, French, and Ukrainian foreign ministers is to be held, and the entire range of issues related to the internal Ukrainian crisis and the resumption of the military action will be discussed," Karasin said.
"We won't predict anything, because the conversation between the ministers will not be from scratch but will in fact be a continuation of the exchange of opinions that the four presidents had on [June] 30. Let's wait for results," he said.
Lavrov has concrete proposals on settling the crisis, which he will take with him to Berlin, Karasin said.
