Ukraine says OSCE should carry on without Russia

Lodz, Poland, Dec 1 (EFE).- Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Thursday that Russia should be removed from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Ukraine’s top diplomat made the statements ahead of a Thursday ministerial meeting in Poland titled ‘OSCE at the crossroads’.

“I dared to disagree with the title. OSCE is on a highway to hell because Russia abuses its rules and principles despite remarkable efforts” by leading figures within the OSCE “to keep it afloat,” Kuleba denounced.

The Ukrainian minister made the remarks amid concerns that Russia is undermining the Vienna-based organization which brings together 57 countries and which requires unanimity to take annual budgetary decisions and to appoint the 2024 OSCE chairmanship, which Moscow is currently blocking.

“Everything has been tried in regards to Russia: to please, to appease, to be nice, to be neutral, to engage, not to call a spade a spade. The bottom line: it would be better for OSCE to carry on without Russia,” Kuleba added.

Ukraine’s top diplomat also thanked the European Union for its defense aid in the ongoing war and urged the bloc to target “Russia’s missile production industry” in forthcoming sanctions.

“It must be put to a halt,” Kuleba said.

During his address, the foreign minister floated the idea of establishing a special court to probe Russian crimes, according to the Polish news agency PAP.

The OSCE ministerial council started on Thursday in Lodz without Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who was unable to travel to Poland due to European sanctions linked to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov criticized the institution in a televised address on Thursday and accused it of being dominated by Western powers and of losing relevance as a mediator.EFE

cph-lo/ch/ks