A group of the OSCE observers sent to Ukraine was not allowed to visit the Crimea. According to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, the new authorities of the Autonomous Republic are reluctant to cooperate with international bodies.
The mission was sent to the peninsula on the initiative of the Ukrainian government. The group includes representatives of the US, the UK, France and Germany.
The international community believes that the armed people, who have taken control over the Crimean governmental offices and military facilities, are in fact Russian servicemen, while Russian President Vladimir Putin insists they are members of local militia.
