Speaking at the special reinforced meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Friday, February 23, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba called on the OSCE to use all existing mechanisms and create new ones to counter sexual crimes by the Russian occupiers and release civilian hostages held by the Russians.

“As long as Russia kidnaps our children, detains civilians, attacks civilian infrastructure, ruins the environment and commits other crimes, the OSCE has to serve as a platform for Russia’s accountability, not a dialogue with it”, the Minister said.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasized that during the aggression against our state, Russian criminals committed literally all types of atrocities listed in the Rome Statute.

Dmytro Kuleba underlined that the OSCE can contribute to the achievement of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, stipulated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula.

“The OSCE can and should be more active and swift in deploying existing instruments and developing the new ones to help bring back Ukrainian children, illegally deported to Russia, return civilian captives, the most internationally overlooked vulnerable group,” he said.

The Minister also urged OSCE to pay more attention to the oppression of ethnic groups in Russia. 

“Putin continues Moscow’s centuries-long imperial policy of assimilating ethnic groups. He disproportionately drafts them for war against Ukraine and oppresses their identity. This is probably the largest imperial assimilation project in this century,”  Dmytro Kuleba said. 

“I call for Russia’s isolation in every possible international organization. From New York to Geneva and Vienna,” emphasized the Minister. 

The Minister also spoke about the impossibility of cooperation of international organizations with the Russian Federation.

“There can be no meaningful engagement with Moscow either in the OSCE or the UN, as long as Russia remains focused on chattering our societies, including through election meddling, state propaganda, cyberattacks, weaponization migration, food and energy. And as long as it keeps the three OSCE officials in illegal detention.  The joint policy of isolation will encourage Russia to release them without any preconditions,” he emphasized.

Dmytro Kuleba invited the meeting participants to join the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland in order to shape jointly the conditions for future peace.

“Enabling Ukrainian victory over Russian aggression is the best way to prevent a larger war in Europe. To that end, we need weapons, including artillery ammunition, air-defense and long-range capabilities. History knows no better way of how to protect people from an aggressor but to keep him at bay with a stick,” the Minister concluded.