Russia says the decision by the United States to relocate its staff at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) out of eastern Ukraine is the result of “military psychosis” of Washington, which accuses Moscow of planning to invade Ukraine.
In a statement on Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the remarks, urging OSCE’s leadership to prevent attempts to “manipulate the mission.”
She also stressed that OSCE’s monitoring was needed now more than ever.
Her comments come as Moscow and the security-oriented organization have had disagreements in the past over eastern Ukraine, whose two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk — collectively known as the Donbass — were turned into self-proclaimed republics by ethnic Russians since 2014, leading to a bloody conflict between the government forces and the armed separatists.
The OSCE “informed the participating states of the decision by ‘a number of countries’ to relocate their national staff of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine ‘due to deteriorating security conditions’”, Zakharova further said, warning, “These decisions cannot but cause our serious concern.”
Her statement came after the US staff at the OSCE reportedly began leaving the separatist-held city of Donetsk earlier in the day, amid West-triggered fears of a possible Russian invasion.
A number of armored cars with the OSCE logo were loaded with suitcases and seen leaving the OSCE’s headquarters early on Sunday, Reuters reported, citing two sources.
