OSCE presence in Ukraine to be restored in coming weeks

MOSCOW. July 14 (Interfax) - The presence of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine will be restored, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said in an interview with TSN, according to Ukrainian media.

It is a very long story and a long response to the question as to how to resume the work of the OSCE in Ukraine for it to work on all issues that it worked on before, but without the possibility of Russia imposing a veto, Carpenter said. He said he thinks that the presence of the OSCE will be restored in the coming weeks, but probably not more than a month. There is a small presence in Kyiv now, but it will later be restored on a larger scale, he said.

The office of the coordinator of OSCE projects in Ukraine will resume operation in Ukraine, he said. It will be financed by donations from likeminded people, and therefore Russia will not be able to veto its work, he said.

The position was previously called the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, and it will probably also be called the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, Carpenter said. But the organization will be financed by donations from likeminded people, and therefore, no money will be demanded from the Russian Federation and it will no longer have the right to veto, the ambassador said.

Russia vetoed the work of the mission in Ukraine, in particular, the work of the border observation mission, the Special Monitoring Mission and the Office of the Project Coordinator, Carpenter said.