Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the OSCE needs to be “rescued from Russia” and not give signals about “a search for cooperation.”
Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba will boycott the OSCE ministerial meeting due to the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov here. Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko announced this on Facebook on Tuesday, November 28.
“The Ukrainian delegation will not participate in the OSCE ministerial meeting at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,” the official said.
The speaker recalled that a meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers will be held on November 30 – December 1 in Skopje.
Ukraine highly appreciates the efforts of North Macedonia as the ruling state in 2023 and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani personally, Nikolenko said.
The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry said that the Russian Federation continues to undermine the OSCE by abusing the rule of consensus. Russia has systematically blocked consensus on key issues. In particular, the blocking of Estonia’s candidacy for the OSCE chairmanship in 2024. Russia has illegally detained three Ukrainians, representatives of the OSCE, who have been detained for more than 500 days.
Nikolenko emphasized that it is necessary to work together to “save the OSCE from Russia, and not to send signals about the possibility of returning to the forms of cooperation that existed before February 2022,” since the Russian Federation released the largest armed invasion of Europe since the end of World War II and grossly violated all the principles of the Helsinki Final Act.
“Considering this, the Ukrainian delegation will not take part in the OSCE ministerial meeting at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, Ukraine remains committed to the principles of the OSCE and is ready to continue working with partners to restore respect for the Helsinki Final Act, especially through the implementation of the Peace Formula President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson summarized.
The Ukrainian delegation to the OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje will be headed by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna, notes Ukrinform.
We remind you that Peter Stano, press secretary of the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell, said that the EU sanctions will not be violated if the North Macedonian authorities allow Sergei Lavrov to personally participate in the ministerial meeting.
Source: korrespondent
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