Russia's claims on Ukraine provocation aimed at creating pretext for aggression – U.S. Mission to OSCE

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, December 16.

"Russia's more recent claims that Ukraine will stage a provocation are clearly aimed at creating a pretext for Russia to embark on further aggression against Ukraine. Let's be honest, Russia's aim is to prevent Ukraine from charting its own course, integrating with the Euro-Atlantic community, strengthening its democracy, and fighting corruption," Carpenter said.

Addressing his colleagues in the OSCE, he said that "this is a critical time." "Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are being threatened in an unprecedented way," he said.

At the same time, Carpenter recalled that U.S. President Joe Biden made clear that the United States and its partners will respond with massive and unprecedented economic and other measures in the event of military escalation and further attempts to destabilize Ukraine. He also noted that the G7 statement issued last week in Liverpool underscored this unity.

"President Biden has also called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy and reiterated that this conflict can only be solved through diplomatic efforts.  To that end, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Karen Donfried traveled to Kyiv and Moscow this week to reinforce our support and desire to make diplomatic progress on ending the conflict in the Donbas through implementation of the Minsk agreements," Carpenter said.

However, he added, Russia "continues to assert it is not a party to the conflict and demands Ukraine engage directly with its proxies." "It continues to propagate the false narrative that it is a 'mediator.' But we all understand the facts on the ground. As my Canadian colleague just pointed out, Russia is the sole aggressor. Russia instigated this conflict, and now we call on it to engage in diplomatic efforts to end it. Russia is a full participant in the Minsk agreements and committed to implement their terms," Carpenter said.

At the same time, he pointed out that Russia has failed to implement its security commitments under the Minsk agreements and has not implemented the July 2020 Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire. "To the contrary, Russia has engaged in so-called passportization and facilitation of voting in Russia's elections that foster the Russia-controlled regions' links to Russia. On what planet does this behavior show respect for Helsinki principles like sovereignty and territorial integrity?" the ambassador said.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Ukraine was allegedly staging a provocation to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine by military means.

In addition, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said Russia was ready "to stop any military provocations by Ukraine" in Donbas.

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