The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has decided to end the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine because Russia has blocked its work, the OSCE reports.

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid announced that the OSCE will take immediate steps to close the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the message says and notes that such a decision was made due to a lack of consensus at the OSCE Permanent Council on 31 March 2022 regarding the renewal of the Mission's mandate.

"We have explored all possible options through political dialogue with participating States to achieve the renewal of the Special Monitoring Mission’s mandate, but the position of the Russian Federation left us with no choice but to take steps to close down the Mission," Zbigniew Rau said.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) began its work on March 21, 2014 in connection with the appeal of the Government of Ukraine to the OSCE and the consensus decision of all 57 OSCE participating States. The SMM is an unarmed civilian mission that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all regions of Ukraine.

The mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission expired on 31 March 2022.