Human rights council offers to be mediator in Ukraine crisis talks

The Russian Presidential Council of Civil Society and Human Rights has adopted a statement, saying that the state body is ready to be a partner of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to organise talks between conflicting parties in Ukraine.

“The council urges inter-governmental structures, primarily the OSCE and the UN to take all efforts to organise talks between conflicting parties in the country. The council is prepared to be a partner of the OSCE observer mission in this process which is vitally needed for Ukraine, Russia and Europe in general,” the council said in a statement posted on the council’s website on Monday.
The presidential human rights council also urged Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada “to stop use of armed forces, heavy military hardware and aviation in Donetsk and other regions and pass to peaceful talks with federalisation supporters forming structures of negotiating process.” Meanwhile, the human rights council urged “the armed opposition” “to refrain from use of weapons and pass to talks with OSCE mediating role.”

The council’s statement also contains an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada “to conduct a thorough and open investigation of the Odessa tragedy involving OSCE and UN observers as well as those from humanitarian and human rights organisations” and a proposal to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies “to permit foreign, including Russian humanitarian missions to come to regions engulfed in violence” to help people in trouble.