MOSCOW, July 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has requested Kiev to provide explanations over shelling of Russian territories and information about military hardware and personnel concentrated near the Russian border, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov told Itar-Tass on Friday.
“The ministry of defence expresses deep concern over ongoing shelling of Russian settlements near the border from the Ukrainian territory and concentrations of Ukrainian army units near Russia’s state border,” he said. “Such actions have obviously provocative character and require thorough consideration at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).”
“Such actions of Ukraine have obviously provocative character and require thorough consideration at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),” he said.
“Bearing this in mind, the Russian side has circulated via the OSCE channels of special communication a notification addressed to the Ukrainian authorities. The Ukrainian authorities have been asked to provide explanations over the shelling of the Russian territory. We have also asked for information about military hardware and Ukrainian army personnel concentrated in the Kherson and Lugansk regions of Ukraine near the Russian state border.”
“For these ends, the Russian side has circulated via the OSCE channels of special communication a notification addressed to the Ukrainian authorities,” he went on to say. “The Ukrainian authorities have been asked to provide explanations over the shelling of the Russian territory. We have also asked for information about military hardware and Ukrainian army personnel concentrated in the Kherson and Lugansk regions of Ukraine near the Russian state border.”
In line with the Vienna document of 2011, the Ukrainian side is to provide information about the goals of the troops concentration, geographical coordinates of the concentration area, planned terms of stay, names of army units, their subordination, strength and types of weapons, Antonov added.
“We hope the delegations of the OSCE member countries will demonstrate due attention to Russia’s worries and will take an active part in an unbiased analysis of Ukraine’s information and in the discussion of the situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border at an OSCE forum,” he said.
Russia’s defence ministry hopes the delegations of member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will take Russia’s worries about the situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border with due regard. “We hope the delegations of the OSCE member countries will demonstrate due attention to Russia’s worries and will take an active part in an unbiased analysis of Ukraine’s information and in the discussion of the situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border at an OSCE forum,” he said.