OSCE to hold Ukraine de-escalation talks in Warsaw

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting of permanent representatives on Monday to seek ways to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, the Polish chairpersonship of the European security body said.

“The meeting has been called for Monday,” Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Sunday, following a request from Kyiv amid a sharp escalation in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

OSCE monitors have reported hundreds of artillery and mortar attacks in recent days, in a conflict that has rumbled since 2014 and claimed more than 14,000 lives.

The cease-fire violations come as the United States accuses Russia of planning to invade Ukraine after a troop build-up of some 150,000 troops on its ex-Soviet neighbor’s borders.

Russia has denied any such plans.

Ukraine had requested a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna to discuss the “rapidly deteriorating security situation,” Poland’s OSCE representative Adam Halacinski said on Twitter.

“Its aim is to discuss everything that has happened in recent hours and what steps the OSCE should take in this situation in order above all to bring about a de-escalation of tension,” Jablonski said.

“We are using all available tools that are possible to use in order to avoid an armed conflict.”

Poland holds the rotating chairmanship for this year of the Vienna-based OSCE, which has 57 members including Russia, Ukraine and the United States.