The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden), OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Roberto Montella, unanimously and categorically condemn the Russian Federation’s illegal annexation of territory in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts of Ukraine, as well as the continued occupation of Crimea.
The illegal annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory, announced today by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is unacceptable. It eviscerates the principle of territorial integrity, which is at the core of the OSCE’s founding principles and the international order. This action by the Russian Federation, which includes military mobilization and irresponsible nuclear threats, will only lead to greater escalation of conflict, putting further millions of lives at risk and causing more senseless human suffering. The step announced today is a blatant violation of the fundamental rules of international law, OSCE principles, and the UN Charter. It constitutes an affront to the commitments to which all participating States have agreed.
We once again call on the Russian Federation to withdraw all its forces from across Ukraine. We also reiterate our unwavering support to Ukraine’s population in these challenging times and its commitment to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
