MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) — Russia’s presidential human rights council said on Monday that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe shared its concerns about east Ukraine violence, but failed to answer the appeal to evacuate children from war-torn regions.
The council’s chairman said incumbent OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter replied to the July 25 letter calling for evacuation of children from war-torn regions by saying that the organization shares Russia’s concerns about the violence in eastern Ukraine.
«The OSCE chairman writes that he shares our concerns about the situation in southeastern Ukraine and calls on all sides to use their influence in order to reach a peaceful political settlement of the conflict," chairman Mikhail Fedotov said.
«Unfortunately, I don’t see anything of substance here. We seek practical aid in evacuating children from the zone of the armed conflict. Unfortunately, we received no concrete reply, but hope we will agree to cooperate on the issue during working contacts," he said.
According to Fedotov, Burkhalter stressed in his letter that he keeps in close contact with those involved in the humanitarian mission to Ukraine’s troubled eastern regions, namely the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The OSCE chairman also said that the monitoring mission makes regular reports on the humanitarian situation.
Last month, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Ella Pamfilova together with Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council and the head of the nonprofit group Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid), Elizaveta Glinka urged the European Union, the OSCE, the Ukrainian leadership, the authorities of Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and international human rights organizations to help establish a humanitarian corridor to move hundreds of sick children from the combat zone in Ukraine to Russian medical facilities.
