The Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Benedetto Della Vedova, had a telephone conversation with the OSCE Secretary General, Helga Schmid, on the situation in Ukraine. During the conversation, the Undersecretary first of all confirmed Italy’s continued commitment to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), the unarmed civilian mission present in all regions of Ukraine. Fifteen Italian observers take part in the SMM and Italy finances about 11% of the mission’s budget, which accounts for approximately EUR 9 million annually.
Della Vedova therefore expressed his support to the Secretary General’s initiative of a letter to all 57 Permanent Representatives calling OSCE participating States to refrain from measures that could further exacerbate the situation. The Undersecretary has recalled today’s telephone call between Draghi and Zelensky, Minister Di Maio’s ongoing mission in Kyiv, and the one scheduled on Thursday in Moscow, and exchanged assessments on the current state of the crisis and the contribution that could come from OSCE to support de-escalation and more in general for European security.
