OSCE Permanent Council 1410 Vienna, 9 February 2023

1. The European Union and its Member States stand united and in full solidarity with Ukraine, which is exercising its inherent right to self-defence against Russia’s war of aggression, in accordance with international law, notably Article 51 of the UN Charter. We commend the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people in their fight to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and freedom of Ukraine. Ukraine has the right to liberate and regain full control of all occupied territories within its internationally recognised borders.
2. We acknowledge that the people of Ukraine are also fighting for their European future. The Kremlin’s attempts to strip Ukraine of its right to choose its own foreign policy course and security arrangements will not succeed. As it was underlined during the 24^th EU-Ukraine Summit held in Kyiv last Friday, the future of Ukraine and its citizens lies within the European Union. The decision of the European Council of 23 June 2022 to recognise the European perspective of and grant the status of candidate country to Ukraine was of historical importance. We are committed to support Ukraine’s further European integration.
3. We will continue supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people against Russia’s ongoing war of aggression for as long as it takes. This includes military assistance of more than EUR 3.6 billion under the European Peace Facility, and the launch of the EU Military Assistance Mission to train an initial 30 000 Ukrainian soldiers in 2023. Together with the military support provided by EU Member States, the overall EU military support to Ukraine is estimated at EUR 12 billion. The EU and its Member States provide a total support to Ukraine of around EUR 50 billion, including military, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.
4. In addition, during the Summit, the EU reconfirmed its solidarity with Ukraine in countering hybrid threats and cyberattacks, and its commitment to continue supporting Ukraine in this regard. We highlighted our enhanced cooperation in cybersecurity and our commitment to achieving further concrete results. We acknowledged the importance of strengthening cooperation in tackling Russian state-controlled information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, as well as building resilience in Ukraine’s digital transformation. These are areas in which OSCE has extensive experience. We therefore encourage the OSCE executive structures and autonomous institutions to look into concrete ways to support Ukraine in this regard.
5. Mr. Chair, Russia’s full-scale brutal and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine is now approaching its one-year mark. Despite evident tactical and operational failures, as well as enormous military casualties and a heavy impact on Russia’s economy, the Kremlin and its paramilitary “Wagner” Group continue to recruit new military personnel, including from Russian prisons. This is accompanied by continued and increasing oppression of the Russian population and a systematic clampdown on all remnants of democracy in Russia.
6. Last weekend, Russia’s Armed Forces carried out further missile attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Kherson, where residential areas were again reportedly targeted. During one such attack on 5 February, the building of Kharkiv National University was seriously damaged. The humanitarian situation in Ukraine’s cities of Bakhmut and Vuhledar, where the fiercest battles continue to be recorded, is particularly alarming.
7. The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s persisting heinous attacks against residential, school and medical facilities, and against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, notably its energy, heating and water supply systems. Deliberate targeting of civilians or civilian objects is a war crime. Russia’s political and military leadership, and all those responsible for such acts, will be held to account.
8. At the EU-Ukraine Summit last week, we also agreed to continue working together to ensure full accountability, including by establishing an appropriate mechanism for the crime of aggression, coordinating investigation of the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and to preserve and store evidence for future trials.
9. In this context, we value the work carried out within the OSCE, by ODIHR and the Moscow Mechanism expert missions on the collection of evidence displaying a devastating reality of a clear pattern of violations of international humanitarian law, and gross and systematic violations of human rights by the Russian Forces in Ukraine. Their reports include particularly disturbing accounts of unlawful forcible transfers and deportations of children to the Russian Federation and Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
10. The atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine must end; the sooner the better for all of us, including for Russia. For the time being, Russia has not shown any genuine willingness regarding negotiations for a fair and sustainable peace. We support the peace formula of President Zelenskyy and are committed to actively work with Ukraine on the implementation of the 10-point plan.
11. We reiterate our call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained OSCE staff members, and to return all illegally seized OSCE SMM armoured vehicles to their legitimate owner, all OSCE participating States. These actions by Russia are illegal, irresponsible and unacceptable.
12. Mr. Chair, the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation campaign will not succeed. When Russia complains about “the lack of dialogue opportunities within the OSCE”, in reality, it deplores its own self-inflicted isolation. In this regard, we wish to recall that it was Russia that refused to engage in the Renewed OSCE European Security Dialogue exactly one year ago, while preparing its illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the past months, it was Russia that opposed the full renewal of OSCE Missions, which had implemented their mandates objectively and in good faith. We cannot but deplore that Russia still tries to justify its unprovoked and brutal war of aggression against a sovereign and peaceful neighbour through obvious lies, information manipulation and historical revisionism.
13. To conclude, we demand that Russia immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraws all of its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. In addition, we urge the Belarusian authorities to the prosecution of which is of interest to the international community as a whole. We support the development of an international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression in Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague with the objective of stop enabling Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, by permitting Russian armed forces to use Belarusian territory and by providing support and training to the Russian military. The Belarusian regime must fully abide by its obligations under international law. The EU will continue to respond to all actions supporting Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war of aggression and remains ready to move quickly with further restrictive measures against Belarus.

The Candidate Countries NORTH MACEDONIA*, MONTENEGRO*, ALBANIA*, UKRAINE, the REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA, and BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA*, the Potential Candidate Country GEORGIA, and the EFTA countries ICELAND and LIECHTENSTEIN members of the European Economic Area, as well as ANDORRA, MONACO and SAN MARINO align themselves with this statement.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.