The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its grave concern in relation
to the reported capture on April 25, of a number of international
monitors of the OSCE verification mission, who are being detained by
paramilitary groups in Slaviansk. The
Ministry calls for the immediate release of all illegally held
observers under conditions of safety.
The Ministry also joins other partners in calling for an end to acts of violence, intimidation and provocation that are being fuelled in Ukraine.
Steps to diffuse the increasingly tensed conditions on the ground in a way that will allow for the full and swift implementation of the Joint Geneva Statement of 17 April and will pave the way to stabilizing the situation are now of imperative importance.
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