Ukraine in OSCE: We must show Russia that world will never get tired of defending freedom

Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organisations in Vienna, has called for a common vision of how to deal with threats from Russia.

Source: Tsymbaliuk at the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje, as reported by European Pravda 

Quote: "Now that Moscow believes that democracy can be defeated on the battlefield, we must show that the world will never get tired of defending freedom," he said.

Details: He states that the world needs a vaccine after Russia's attempts to use food as genocide, as during the Holodomor of the 1930s, which is also a reminder of Russia's many attempts to destroy Ukraine's identity [The Holodomor was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine that lasted from 1932 to 1933 and claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians – ed.].

"Massive bombing, destruction of infrastructure, destruction of Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, deportation and assimilation of children, mined fields and dehumanisation of Ukrainians. This is evidence of Russia's genocidal intentions today," Tsymbaliuk said.

He noted that the last two years have proved that the OSCE works better if it ignores Russian blackmail and talks to Russia with a single position: force based on moral law. Otherwise, as the Ukrainian ambassador pointed out, Russia will demand new concessions.

"It is absolutely clear that we cannot build the future of the OSCE with a country that is stealing the future of our children. We need peace like no other, but not at any cost. Russian troops must leave; it is necessary to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine," said Tsymbaliuk.

The Ukrainian representative further stated that, as we are nearing the 10th anniversary of Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2024, the OSCE needs strong leadership to defend its values, further isolate the Russian Federation's malicious intentions within the organisation, and combat Russian aggression in all three dimensions.

"As long as the focus is on the destruction of our democracy through election meddling, cyber attacks, manipulation of public opinion, migration and disinformation, the OSCE institutions have a mandate to develop a common vision of how to deal with these threats, including the Russian threat."

Background:

• The Ukrainian delegation walked out of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje when Sergey Lavrov began to speak.
• On 28 November, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that Kuleba would not be attending the OSCE meeting due to the participation of Sergey Lavrov in the event.
• Shortly after, the foreign ministers of the Baltic states also decided to abstain from the OSCE summit. It also became known that several more ministers are boycotting the OSCE meeting but have not announced this publicly.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the OSCE meeting before Lavrov’s arrival. Josep Borrell, the EU Foreign Affairs chief, was also absent from the meeting.

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