UK welcomes US and Ukrainian work towards a just and lasting peace and underlines continued support for Ukraine against Russian aggression: UK statement to the OSCE
Ambassador Holland welcomes the meaningful progress between the US and Ukraine on delivering a just and lasting peace. Ukraine has consistently demonstrated its commitment to peace, while Russia continues to bombard Ukrainian cities, even while talks on peace are taking place. The UK will continue to stand by Ukraine.
Thank you, Mr Chair. The United Kingdom welcomes the joint statement issued by the US and Ukraine following their highly productive talks over the weekend in Geneva aimed at ending Russia’s illegal war of aggression.
The UK is wholeheartedly supportive of the talks and will continue working with the US, Ukraine and our European partners to deliver a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. As my Prime Minister said earlier this week, both of those words - “just” and “lasting” - are important.
Ukraine has consistently demonstrated that it is the party of peace. President Zelenskyy agreed to a full unconditional ceasefire in March and made clear his readiness to meet President Putin in a neutral venue. They have engaged constructively and with sincerity in US-led peace efforts from the beginning.
In contrast, while the latest round of talks was taking place, Russia was raining down drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities. On Sunday night Russia attacked Kharkiv with a massive drone attack which struck residential buildings, powerlines and an educational facility. Four people were killed. The following night, Russia used 460 drones and 22 missiles to attack Kyiv, killing at least six people and injuring 12 more.
Russia knows that its position is absurd: to claim that it is serious about peace talks while maintaining its maximalist terms and attempting to bomb Ukraine’s civilians into submission. For this reason, it uses its disinformation campaign to divide and deflect with nonsense claims about other government’s approach towards peace talks.
The UK position is clear. We believe that the future of Ukraine is for Ukrainians to decide. For any deal to provide a just and lasting peace, it will need to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and security; uphold the principle that borders should not be changed by force; and ensure robust security guarantees are in place to prevent future Russian aggression.
In the meantime, the UK will continue our support for Ukraine and help ensure that they have the military equipment that they need to defend themselves from Russia’s continued aggression, whilst sustaining economic pressure on President Putin to bear down on the revenues that are funding the war.
Thank you, Mr Chair.