EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton, has expressed serious concern about events in eastern Ukraine and called on Russia to stop any actions aimed at destabilizing the situation.
“I am gravely concerned about the surge of actions undertaken by
armed individuals and separatist groups in various cities of eastern
Ukraine, who have seized in the last 24 hours police stations and
branches of the Interior Ministry and erected checkpoints around the
city of Sloviansk,” reads a statement in Brussels on Sunday in
connection with events in Ukraine.
Ashton said she was confident that the OSCE Special Monitoring
Mission “plays and must continue to play a crucial role in actively
observing and reporting about these developments and thus contributing
to prevent a further escalation of the situation.”
“I reiterate the EU’s strong support for Ukraine’s unity, sovereignty
and territorial integrity and call upon Russia to do so as well. To
this end, the Russian Federation is urged to call back its troops from
the Ukrainian border and to cease any further actions aimed at
destabilizing Ukraine,” she said.
In addition, Ashton noted that the EU commends “the Ukrainian
authorities for pursuing their law and order operations in a measured
way, in order to establish the authority of the state.”
“I encourage the government in Kyiv to contribute further to reducing
tensions and call upon Ukraine to ensure free and fair presidential
elections on May 25 as the best way to express the citizens’ will,” she
said.
She also noted that the EU looked forward to the work of the
Verkhovna Rada on constitutional reform, through an inclusive process
and with the support of the Council of Europe, including its Venice
Commission.
Ashton also said that she looked forward “to the talks with Ukraine,
Russia and the United States, scheduled to take place on April 17 in
Geneva, and the start of a meaningful dialogue which should contribute
to de-escalating and stabilizing the situation in and around Ukraine.”
