Foreign Secretary statement on Russia's failure to turn up to OSCE military build-up meeting
Liz Truss gave a statement on Russia’s failure to send a representative to an OSCE meeting about its military build-up on the border with Ukraine.
Responding to Russia’s failure to send a representative to an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting about its military build-up, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:
Russia is patently failing to live up to the international commitments it has made around transparency.
If the Kremlin is serious about a diplomatic resolution, then it needs to show up to diplomatic meetings and commit to meaningful talks. Russia’s refusal to engage with the OSCE process demonstrates its contempt for the commitments it freely signed up to.
It is Russia that is the aggressor here. The troops stationed on the border are clear threat to Ukraine. The UK and our allies urge the Kremlin to withdraw its troops and enter discussions based on the proposals put forward by NATO to improve transparency and reduce risk.
Background
- Ukraine triggered Chapter 3 of the OSCE Vienna Document (PDF, 115 KB) on 11 February, calling on Russia to explain its unacceptable military activity along the Ukrainian border and in illegally-annexed Crimea. Russia had 48 hours to respond but did so 8 hours late and without engaging on the substance
- Ukraine triggered the next step, a technical meeting with Russia and all OSCE States today (Tuesday 15 February) to ask Russia to address its concerns. No Russian representative attended
Media enquiries
Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk
Telephone 020 7008 3100
Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.