OSCE Permanent Council No.1480 Vienna, 4 July 2024

PRINT

OSCE Permanent Council No.1480 Vienna, 4 July 2024

04.07.2024 Press and information team of the Delegation to UN and OSCE in Vienna

EU Statement on the Russian Federation's ongoing aggression against Ukraine

1. The past three weeks since our last regular meeting have seen further death and destruction resulting from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. While Kharkiv remains most affected by Russia's intensification of hostilities, Russia continues its missile barrages across the whole of Ukraine, causing numerous civilian casualties in various parts of the country daily.Recent examples include Russia's missile attack on the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on 24th June, which killed at least five people and wounded at least 41 more, and Russia's strike on the town of Vilniansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 29^th June, which left at least seven people dead and at least 36 injured. In parallel, Russia has continued to target Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities. In its most recent attacks on Ukraine's power grid on 20^th and 22^nd June, Russia damaged energy infrastructure in multiple regions of Ukraine, forcing additional power cuts.
2. Against the backdrop of Russia's continuing atrocities in Ukraine, the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is ever more urgent. We welcome the outcome of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine held on 15 and 16 June 2024 in Switzerland. The EU and its Member States will pursue a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law, including the principles of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty, in line with the key principles and objectives of Ukraine's Peace Formula. It will be for Ukraine to decide the conditions for negotiations. The Kremlin's recent misleading so-called "peace proposals" only attempt to legitimise Russia's illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine and undermine peace efforts in accordance with the UN Charter, disregarding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
3. Ensuring accountability for all crimes committed in connection with Russia's war of aggression remains paramount for achieving the just and lasting peace that Ukraine deserves. There can be no impunity for any perpetrators and accomplices of Russia's crimes - not even at the highest echelons. The EU remains committed to seeing Russia and its leadership held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression against Ukraine and for other most serious crimes under international law, as well as for the massive damage caused by its war. In this regard, we note the latest ICC arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
4. We are more steadfast than ever in our support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We reconfirm our unwavering commitment to providing continued political, financial, economic, humanitarian, legal, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed, also taking into account the critical importance of accelerated and intensified deliveries of military material based on Ukraine's urgent needs. Since our last regular meeting, we have taken a number of decisions that clearly demonstrate our steadfast and long-term commitment to Ukraine.
5. At the G7 Apulia Summit, the EU, together with its G7 partners, undertook to make available approximately $ 50 billion, leveraging the extraordinary revenues of the immobilised Russian sovereign assets, with a view to supporting Ukraine's current and future needs. Following the adoption of the EU legal acts to direct such revenues towards further military support for Ukraine, its defence industry capacity and its reconstruction, we look forward to the first disbursement this summer.
6. At the latest Foreign Affairs Council of 24^th June, we adopted the 14^th package of restrictive measures against Russia, signalling our determination to further limit Russia's ability to wage war by maintaining pressure on it, on those providing material support to its war of aggression, and those in third countries enabling the circumvention of sanctions.
7. On 25^th June, we held the first Intergovernmental Conference at ministerial level on the accession of Ukraine in Luxembourg. This was a historic moment, testifying to both the EU's support for the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU and Ukraine's commitment to the necessary reforms. We will continue to work closely with Ukraine and support its reform efforts on its European path.
8. Additionally, on 27^th June, the EU and Ukraine signed joint security commitments, under which the EU and its MS undertake to contribute, for the long term and together with partners, to security commitments to Ukraine, which will help it to defend itself, resist destabilisation efforts and deter acts of aggression in the future.
9. In conclusion, we once again demand that Russia immediately end its illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, and completely and unconditionally withdraw all its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. We also condemn the continued military support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine provided by Belarus, as well as Iran and the DPRK. We urge all countries not to provide material or other support for Russia's war of aggression, which is a blatant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, and the OSCE's core principles and commitments.