You're reading: OSCE SMM ‘doesn’t confirm presence of Russian troops in Donbas’

SMM OSCE can’t confirm the presence of Russian troops in Donbas as such, but draws attention to the evidence of involvement in the conflict of foreign residents and weapons.

“When I am asked whether the Russian troops present there, I, referring to the information of our observers, say that there are no such formations there. But we see the presence of military equipment from outside. Besides, we see a great number of equipment and fuel, it also came from somewhere. In addition, foreign military men present in the region,” OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

He stressed that such military men “admit it themselves, but they say that they have come to wage war in private.”

“And these men deny that they have official relationship with the Russian Federation. There are also people who do not just shoot, but operate sophisticated military weaponry and equipment,” the OSCE Secretary General said.

Answering journalists’ questions about the similarity of the crisis in Donbas with other conflicts on the continent in recent decades, Zannier said: “I abstain from drawing parallels. Every single conflict has its own peculiarities … But what distinguishes the conflict in the east of Ukraine from other similar conflicts, and even from Yugoslavia, is the presence of a large number of weapons and military equipment … “

“We refrain from evaluations, our task is to promote dialogue, facilitate the creation of platforms on which the parties concerned can discuss the situation, including the economic interests,” the OSCE Secretary General said.