Budrys at the OSCE: By continuing its aggression against Ukraine, Russia continues blatantly violating international law and undermining the foundations of the OSCE
On 24 February, marking the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine at the OSCE Reinforced Meeting of the Permanent Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, strongly condemned Russia's ongoing aggression and expressed his full support for Ukraine.
“Today marks the beginning of the fifth year of Russia’s full‑scale war of aggression against Ukraine, and the thirteenth since the illegal annexation of Crimea,” the head of Lithuania's diplomacy recalled, stressing that Russia’s actions continued to blatantly violate the fundamental principles of international law and undermine the foundations of the OSCE.
According to Budrys, Russia deliberately ignores the intense efforts of Ukraine and the United States to achieve a just and sustainable peace and, by simulating involvement in the negotiation process, is further intensifying barbaric attacks against the peaceful Ukrainian civilians.
„Almost every day, Russia launches missile and drone attacks, striking Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, and other regions of Ukraine. Russia systematically targets the country’s critical energy infrastructure, resulting in disruptions to electricity, water, and heating for hundreds of thousands of people when temperatures fall below -20°C," the Minister said, stressing that these deliberate attacks on civilians constitute war crimes.
The head of Lithuania's diplomacy called on the OSCE to take more decisive action in response to Russia's aggression, stressing the need to defend international law and the principles of the organisation. Budrys emphasised that the OSCE must actively seek full accountability for Russian crimes and strengthen support for Ukraine as it defends itself. He also called for more determined action from the organisation's institutions to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and secure the release of illegally imprisoned OSCE staff, and called on other OSCE participating States to more actively use the existing political mechanisms of the organisation for this purpose.
The Minister also voiced strong support for Ukraine, stressing that Lithuania would never recognise the illegally occupied or annexed territories of Ukraine as part of Russia, and urged OSCE participating countries to commit to a principled policy of non-recognition.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014, when Russia occupied and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and started hostilities in eastern Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine.
