OSCE Chairperson-in-Office: One of Our Priorities is Peaceful Settlement of Russian-Ukrainian Armed Conflict

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba held talks with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde during her working visit to Ukraine.

The Minister and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office discussed the security situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict peacefully.

“One of our priorities for this year is to defend the European security system and support a political settlement of the conflict in line with OSCE principles and commitments, with full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” Linde said.

Kuleba noted the importance of the OSCE’s effective involvement in responding to security challenges in Europe, the main part of which is Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine in Crimea and Donbas. The Minister stressed the need to ensure that Russia fulfills its commitments undertaken within the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy format.

“It is important that the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict as a major threat to European security remains a priority on the agenda of Sweden’s 2021 OSCE Chair. Ukraine has fulfilled its commitments assumed at the Paris summit, but we do not see reciprocal actions on the part of Russia. We hope that Sweden’s OSCE Chair will play an important role in changing this situation for the better and encouraging the Russian Federation to work constructively,” he stressed.

Kuleba noted that the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine covers the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. He believes that it is necessary to ensure unimpeded and full access of OSCE SMM observers to Crimea, as required by the updated UN General Assembly resolution 75/192 “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine” approved on 16 December 2020.

“The launch of remote monitoring of the situation in Crimea is long overdue. The OSCE SMM has the capacity to launch such a mechanism and can carry out a remote analysis of the situation in the occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” the Minister stressed.

Today, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will visit the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas to personally get acquainted with the activities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and the consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Natalia Tolub