Poland in the OSCE

On behalf of the Polish Chairmanship, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz expressed solidarity and support to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. He underlined that the Russian decision is a flagrant breach of the fundamental principles of international law, as well as the OSCE commitments that Russia agreed to and is bound to respect.

“The decision by President Putin constitutes a rejection of Russian commitments under the Minsk agreements. It undermines all OSCE efforts to settle the conflict in and around Ukraine, particularly within existing negotiation formats, in which the Trilateral Contact Group has a leading role,” said Deputy Minister Przydacz.

"This decision disrupts and risks undermining eight years of work by the international community and by the OSCE in particular, to find an agreed solution to the issues affecting the region," said OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid. "This makes the role of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine all the more crucial, while it continues to implement its mandate without interruption, providing impartial reporting on the situation on the ground."

Representatives from OSCE participating States, including Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, United Kingdom Minister for Europe and North America James Cleverly, United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino, took part and discussed the recent developments.

The meeting took place at the Hofburg in Vienna on 22 February and was held in a blended format.