Kyiv is setting in motion a risk reduction clause of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) document to obtain an explanation from Russia on its military movements near Ukraine’s state borders.
By activating the OSCE’s Vienna document on confidence and security-building measures, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has 48 hours to respond, he tweeted on Feb. 11.
Moscow “needs to provide [a] detailed explanation on the objectives, precise location and dates of completion of its military activities, as well as designation, subordination, number and types of formations, as well as types of equipment involved,” Kuleba said.
He specifically triggered Chapter 3 of the document. It stipulates that OSCE participating states
“will… consult and cooperate with each other about any unusual and unscheduled activities of their military forces outside their normal peacetime locations which are militarily significant.“
Kuleba said it would convene an “extraordinary” OSCE meeting where “Russia will have to provide explanations” if Moscow doesn’t reply or if the response is insufficient or irrelevant.
The move came the same day Washington said Russia has amassed a sizable invasion force which could strike Ukraine at any moment. More than 140,000 well-equipped Russian soldiers and sophisticated weaponry are within striking distance of Ukraine “through nine routes.”
Speaking in Kharkiv on Feb. 11, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary Oleksiy Danilov said authorities are “well aware” of possible provocations staged by Russia.
“We are currently considering all options,“
he added.
U.S. President Joe Biden, in an interview on NBC's "Nightly News," urged U.S. citizens
in Ukraine to "leave now," adding that "things could go crazy, quickly," given
Russia's military strength.
Ukraine last triggered the risk reduction clause of OSCE’s Vienna document in April when Russia started massing troops and military hardware during the quadrennial Zapad military drills.
On April 9, Russia responded by saying it “does not engage in any significant military activity that is required to be reported under the Vienna Document 2011 on Confidence and Security Building Measures.”
After the drills, U.S. intelligence stated that although most of the Russian troops had returned to their home bases, much of the military infrastructure and hardware had remained near Ukraine. In November, the Russian military personnel started accumulating again near Ukraine’s border.
Ukraine also in 2014 triggered the Vienna document when Russia was massing troops in the east.
In 2014, “Russia similarly failed to provide detailed information about its unusual military activities on Ukraine’s border in response to Ukraine’s” request, the U.S. mission to the OSCE stated.
In late February 2014, Russia forcibly seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and covertly invaded the two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk with local collaborators.
“It swiftly became clear in 2014 that Ukraine’s concerns were well founded,” the U.S. mission to the OSCE said.
