Kuleba: If we want to save OSCE, Russia should be kicked off organization and Europe
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has once again stressed the necessity to expel Russia from the OSCE, adding that Russia is the biggest threat to security and cooperation in Europe.
"Moscow has actually taken the OSCE hostage through manipulating the principle of consensus and thus destroying the organization from inside. Bujar is chairing the OSCE in a very difficult time and he does this in a very professional and devoted manner, which we in Ukraine, and the other OSCE member states, appreciate," he said at a joint press conference with OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani in Kyiv on Monday.
The Ukrainian minister once again stressed that Russia does not need security and cooperation in Europe, adding that the aggressor country aspires for chaos and destabilization.
"You know the OSCE is an organization for security and cooperation in Ukraine, but today Russia is the biggest threat to security and cooperation in Europe. It aspires for chaos, destabilization, and today I have reaffirmed my position that if we want to save the OSCE, save security and cooperation in Europe, we should kick Russia off the OSCE and Europe. That would be better for everyone," he said.
According to Kuleba, everything Russia does in the OSCE today is killing the organization.
"I can easily imagine the OSCE without Russia. Although, of course, the path to this with be painful. It is like a treatment for a disease: sometimes it is painful, but it is necessary to go through it for survival and a healthy life. We can already see the contours inside a new OSCE when Russia blocks one or another decision and the member states find a way to bypass Russia's veto," he said.
The minister said this also concerns the functioning of the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine and other issues.
"Thus, the situation in the OSCE is very difficult, very painful, but the choice is very simple: either a slow death with Russia, or a new life without it. I adhere to this position, despite the fact that some of our friends in the OSCE throw up their hands and say 'We can't do anything because of the principle of consensus'," Kuleba said.
According to him, "when it comes to a matter of life and death, we all must make a choice."