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Russian envoy calls on Canada, US to stop spreading fakes in OSCE

The Russian diplomat on Thursday recalled that Canadian and US envoys at the online meeting of the council last week tried to accuse Donetsk militia of aggressive actions against OSCE observers

VIENNA, May 21. /TASS/. Russia’s permanent representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich has urged representatives of Canada and the United States to refrain from using unfounded data on the situation in Donbass at meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council.

Lukashevich on Thursday recalled that Canadian and US envoys at the online meeting of the council last week tried to accuse Donetsk militia of aggressive actions against OSCE observers.

"They voiced a speculation that on May 8 SMM (Special Monitoring Mission - TASS) officers who were launching a drone over Gorlovka were allegedly grabbed, plunged into dirt face down, had their hands tied behind their backs and were held at gunpoint. All these fallacies were personally rebutted by SMM head Yasar Halit Cevik at a briefing on May 15. He explained that his employees feel generally comfortably in Donbass - locals are not aggressive towards them, while the behavior of militia in Gorlovka on May 8 could not be described as threatening," the envoy noted.

According to the Russian diplomat, in reality, the situation came down to a certain misunderstanding between militiamen and observers which resulted in the patrol being delayed by approximately three hours. "Having heard these facts, our North American colleagues started accusing everyone else but themselves of advancing, I quote, "disinformation campaigns," Lukashevich stressed.

"We are calling on them to refrain from using rumors and other unfounded data which quickly turn into propaganda fakes. We should concentrate on constructive work to facilitate settlement of the domestic Ukrainian conflict," he concluded. -0-aba.

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