Ambassador Holland highlights Russia's ongoing refusal to engage
seriously in peace talks, its escalation of attacks on Ukraine,
and its misuse of the OSCE to spread disinformation. The UK
reaffirms its support for Ukraine and calls for the OSCE to
remain a forum for genuine dialogue.
"Thank you, Madam Chair.
Russia has had many opportunities to engage meaningfully in peace
talks to end its illegal war in Ukraine. And each time, it has
refused to do so: rejecting a proposed ceasefire offered by the
US and Ukraine, refusing President Zelensky's offer of a
bilateral or trilateral meeting and repeating maximalist
settlement demands that would amount to Ukraine's capitulation.
Alongside its intransigence on peace talks, Russia has escalated
its attacks against innocent civilians and civilian
infrastructure in Ukraine. And a kindergarten was among the
sites struck yesterday in a bombardment that killed seven people,
including two children.
We support President Trump and President Zelenskyy's efforts to
secure a just and lasting peace. As my Prime Minister and
other European leaders said on Tuesday, we strongly agree with
President Trump's position that the fighting should stop
immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the
starting point of negotiations.
President Putin's refusal to engage seriously with these efforts
is yet further evidence that Ukraine is the only party serious
about peace. Ukraine's security is our security.
Therefore, it is important to us that they remain as strong
as possible. So, we will continue our support to Ukraine to
ensure that it has the tools it needs to defend itself and
remains resilient. We cannot allow the lesson from this conflict
to be that aggression pays. We remain committed to the
Helsinki principle that borders cannot be changed by force.
Madam Chair, I would also like to use this opportunity to condemn
Russia's use of this Council to spread accusations of false flag
and sabotage operations linked to the UK and “the West”. We
do not respond to each individual example of this because such
unsubstantiated conspiracy theories are not deserving of a
running commentary from their subjects. Everybody here
knows that these accusations are designed to distract attention
from Russia's illegal war.
But the point I would like to register in all seriousness is that
there is a more dangerous consequence to such claims. The
OSCE should remain a useful platform for participating States to
deliver and receive deterrence and risk-reduction
messaging. It is far more difficult for these meetings to
serve this purpose when we are inundated with Russian
disinformation.
The OSCE must remain a forum for genuine dialogue. Using it as a
stage for propaganda makes this vital function a lot harder.
Thank you."
