The Ukrainian side was also represented at the meeting by the officials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Border Service of Ukraine, who provided information on the development of the security situation in the eastern regions of the country. In particular, a detailed briefing was given regarding the attempted illegal crossing of Ukraine’s state border from the Russian territory by an armed group on the night from 21 to 22 May.

A.Deshchytsia underlined that Ukraine views this and other provocations of the Russian side as targeted attempts to disrupt holding of the Presidential elections on May 25 and to destabilize the situation in the eastern regions of our country. He emphasized that in doing so Russia continues to violate its international obligations and principles of international relations, demonstrates its real attitude towards the Geneva Statement, which, apparently, it has never had any intention to fulfill, and makes deliberate efforts to further aggravate the situation in Ukraine.

The meeting’s participants also discussed the process and the conduct of the all-Ukrainian dialogue of national unity. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission highly assessed holding of the three respective round tables and confirmed its readiness to provide all the necessary support in continuing organization of such events, which are an important tool in de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine.