OSCE Permanent Council No.1469 Vienna, 18 April 2024

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OSCE Permanent Council No.1469 Vienna, 18 April 2024

18.04.2024 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. Since our last meeting, Russia has continued to target Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure, in blatant violation of its international obligations. Frontline communities in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy bear the brunt of Russia's relentless barrages, but virtually no place in Ukraine is safe. Every day, there are reports of injuries and fatalities amongst the Ukrainian civilian population, as well as of damage to and destruction of civilian properties and infrastructure, due to Russia's war of aggression. Russia's missile attack on Chernihiv on 17^th April, which killed at least eighteen people and injured dozens more, is just one of numerous examples.
2. The latest alarming developments around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), as reported last week by the IAEA Director General, are highly disturbing and only add to our concern. Over the past weeks, the ZNPP was hit by drones, including at reactor building 6. This is a very serious incident as for the first time since November 2022, the ZNPP was directly targeted in a military action. None of the serious risks identified by the IAEA existed before Russia's illegal seizure of the plant two years ago. Bringing Russia's war of aggression to an end and returning the ZNPP to the full control of the competent Ukrainian authorities is the only lasting solution to minimise the risk of a nuclear accident. Russia's intensified attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure continue unabated. In three waves of massive assaults, the latest one occurring on 11^th April, Russia has severely damaged or completely destroyed more than
3. two dozen energy facilities across Ukraine, including the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant and Trypilska Thermal Power Plant. This has significantly curtailed Ukraine's electricity generating capacity, depriving millions of Ukrainians of stable access to electricity. Such systematic air strikes as well as all other targeted attacks against civilian objects and critical infrastructure are unacceptable and must stop immediately. They add to the growing evidence of war crimes, as reported by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, as well as ODIHR's Ukraine Monitoring and the OSCE Moscow Mechanism expert missions.
4. Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression and for other most serious crimes under international law, as well as for the massive damage caused by its war. The EU remains firmly committed to ensuring full accountability for all crimes committed in connection with Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, including the crime of aggression. We welcome the recent renewal of the mandates of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the monitoring and reporting activities of which are crucial for international accountability efforts, as are those of ODIHR, which we highly appreciate.
5. Russia's continued deliberate attacks on Ukraine's grain storage and export facilities show that it continues to weaponise food and deliberately undermine global food security. This was most recently evidenced by the strikes on the ports of Chornomorsk and Kherson on 11^th and 14^th April, respectively. OCHA assesses that these continued attacks endanger the progress made in stabilising grain markets and reducing global food prices, given the importance of Ukraine's Black Sea ports for global food supply chains. We underline the importance of Ukrainian agricultural exports reaching world markets and reiterate our support for all efforts to facilitate these exports to the countries most in need, notably in Africa and the Middle East. We also stress the importance of security and stability in the Black Sea region and, in this context, take positive note of the Second Black Sea Security Conference, held in Sofia on 15^th April within the framework of the International Crimea Platform.
6. In its Report on the Human Rights Situation during the Russian Occupation of Territory of Ukraine and its Aftermath, OHCHR documents wide-spread mine contamination, left by Russian forces after their retreat from some Ukrainian regions. This is a cause of great concern, as mines pose grave risks to the Ukrainian civilian population, especially farmers, and hinder the rehabilitation of vital civilian infrastructure. As part of its efforts to help Ukrainian IDPs return home and resume their economic activities, the EU, through its Foreign Policy Instrument, has significantly scaled up its support for humanitarian mine action in Ukraine. In addition to supporting the work of international demining NGOs, it has been providing demining equipment and additional national and international expertise to Ukraine's mine action authorities, and it has been supporting the OSCE's work on humanitarian mine action in Ukraine through the SPU.
7. We reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine's rightful and brave self-defence against the brutal aggressor, Russia, as well as Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The EU is determined to continue providing Ukraine and its people with all the necessary political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed. At this critical moment, the EU and Member States will speed up and intensify the delivery of all necessary military assistance.
8. We will continue intensive global outreach efforts and cooperation with Ukraine and other partners from all regions of the world to ensure the widest possible international support for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace and the key principles and objectives of Ukraine's Peace Formula, based on the UN Charter, with a view to a future Global Peace Summit. We commend Switzerland for its initiative to host a High-level Peace Conference on 15^th -16^th June and look forward to this event.
9. Madame Chair, let us be clear: the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is for the aggressor, Russia, to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia must also immediately end its continued, systematic and brutal attacks against Ukraine and its people. We condemn the continued military support for Russia's unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal 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.