Better for OSCE to carry on without Russia: Top Ukrainian diplomat

Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Thursday that it would be better for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to carry on its operations without Russia’s involvement.

“Everything has been tried in regards to Russia: to please, to appease, to be nice, to be neutral, to engage, not to call a spade a spade. The bottom line: it would be better for OSCE to carry on without Russia,” Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter following the start of the OSCE Ministerial Council in the Polish city of Lodz.

Kuleba also expressed disagreement with the title of the event – “OSCE at the crossroads,” as he said the bloc is rather “on a highway to hell.”

“OSCE is on a highway to hell because Russia abuses its rules and principles despite remarkable effort by CiO (chairman-in-office), SG (secretary general) and OSCE institutions to keep it afloat,” Kuleba said.

The OSCE meeting is being held for the first time without the participation of Russia after Polish authorities denied visas to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his delegation amid the fall of a missile into Poland on Nov. 15, killing two people.

“The OSCE Ministerial Council will be held for the first time without a Russian minister. And that’s right - he has nothing to do. They only imitate negotiations. They only imitate diplomacy. But in fact, they made their choice: this choice is war and war crimes,” Kuleba said on Facebook on Monday.

Relations between Poland and Russia have been further strained since February, when Moscow launched a war on Kyiv, sending millions of refugees into Poland and neighboring countries.

In a statement on its website, the Russian Foreign Ministry harshly criticized the Polish chairmanship of the OSCE, saying Warsaw did everything to destroy the group’s pillars and erode fundamental OSCE principles of consensus.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Thursday urged the OSCE to do more to help it defeat Russia.