Russian Mission to OSCE Confirms Emergency Meeting in Vienna Tuesday

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is to conduct an emergency meeting at 16:30 local time (15:30 GMT), the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE told RIA Novosti Tuesday.

MOSCOW, January 20 (Sputnik) — The emergency meeting in Vienna regarding the situation in Ukraine was also confirmed by the US Mission to the OSCE and the US ambassador to the organization on their Twitter accounts.

According to Daniel Baer, Ambassadors Apakan and Tagliavini will report by video on the deterioration and next steps in Eastern Ukraine.

The Swiss delegation to the OSCE stated that the country “remains committed to the improvement of the #humanitarian situation in Eastern #Ukraine,” according to a tweet by the delegation following the announcement of the emergency meeting.

Last September, Ukrainian independence supporters and Kiev managed to reach a ceasefire agreement in Minsk with the mediation of Russia and the OSCE. Specific steps for its implementation were outlined later the same month.

However, over the weekend, Kiev shelled residential areas in eastern Ukraine, local independence militia said. According to a senior commander of the armed militia in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), more than 30 civilians, including children, were killed on Sunday in the city of Horlivka in the Donbas region in a series of airstrikes carried out by Ukrainian combat jets.