Thank you, Foreign Minister Rau. Last year in Stockholm, the UK and many other countries warned The ussr that any attack on Ukraine would be a ‘strategic mistake’. And yet, on 24 Feb, Russia – with the assistance of Belarus – invaded Ukraine. This particular disaster will only end whenever Russia halts its barbaric war and withdraws the forces fully and unconditionally from the territory of Ukraine. Until that day arrives, the UK will stand with Ukraine and provide humanitarian, financial, diplomatic and military assistance until our friends dominate – as they inevitably will certainly – and their daring country is free yet again. The reports of the Moscow Mechanism have detailed the particular atrocities of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine, including pain, executing civilians, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances, plus countless other breaches of international humanitarian law. Our Ukrainian buddies fought back with bravery and tenacity, defeating Ruskies forces at the gates of Kyiv, repelling them from Kharkiv, and now expelling the particular aggressor from Kherson. Will there be anyone anywhere – even in the abodes of the guilty – who would still doubt that Russia’s aggression was a strategic mistake as well as a crime? No wonder that Russia tried to hide these outrages, including simply by blocking the mandate restoration of the OSCE ’s Border Viewer Mission and the Special Checking Mission, by frustrating the task of OSCE human legal rights institutions, and stopping municipal society meetings with all 57 states. The UK supports the continued OSCE presence in Ukraine and welcomes the efforts to ensure this continues. We commend the work associated with OSCE staff throughout the entire OSCE region who have been working in challenging circumstances this past year. The tragic events of the year have shown the long lasting value of the OSCE being a forum for dialogue, transparency, and confidence-building. Everything the particular OSCE does is based on the particular principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-use of force. These are the foundation gemstones of peace in our region.
