The announcement came following a May 11th meeting between the foreign ministers of the Normandy format, where Russia did not support this initiative, and after Victoria Nuland’s special visit to Moscow on May 18th. The known neocon and official representative of the US State Department also discussed with Russian officials the prospects for elections and the peace process in Donbass. Among other issues, Nuland state that "broadening the access of the OSCE" was negotiated. She also warned that the elections should be held according to OSCE standards so that they "will be Ukrainian."
Local elections in the People's Republic of Donbass are to be held on July 24th. This is one of the key points of the Minsk agreements. Due to the position of Ukraine, the election date was postponed several times, but Ukraine shows reluctance to compromise. Kiev again stated that it is necessary to postpone the elections for another 2 years. This is due to the fear of the Kiev authorities that their opponents and nominees of alternative groups of influence will win the election. So far, Ukraine has made no changes to the constitution regarding a special, de-facto independent status of Donbass, which is also provided by the Minsk Agreements.
The proposal sent to the DPR and LPR armed OSCE mission is an attempt to test the waters on the principal issue of the possibility for a foreign military presence in Donbass. Much like the practices in previous wars and conflicts, for example the Yugoslav wars, these military forces usually act in favour of pro-Western forces. Ukraine will try to use this opportunity to maximize the complications of cooperation between Russia and the Republics of Novorossiya, and promote their own interests. In addition, the presence of hundreds of armed representatives of the OSCE on the territory of Novorossiya greatly increases the possibility of provocation, which can be used to legitimize a Ukrainian or Western invasion against the People's Republics.
