… Colleagues, if we are ever to have a lasting ceasefire in this conflict, which Russia manufactured and continues to stoke, Russia’s forces must start with the agreed-upon steps of ceasing hostilities. They must withdraw weapons and place them in storage sites, as stipulated in the Minsk agreements. Let us not fall into the trap of moral equivalency here. It is not up to Ukraine to withdraw its forces from its own lands. On the contrary, Russia must command the forces it arms, leads, trains and fights alongside to take the initial steps to implement a true and lasting ceasefire, to disengage from the line of contact, and to withdraw their formations and weapon systems from the sovereign territory of Ukraine. The United States waits, together with the rest of the international community, for Russia to respect the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states to which it has long claimed to adhere.
Mr. Chair, the international community has spoken with a united voice against Russia’s November 25 ramming, firing upon, and seizure of Ukrainian Navy vessels and crew near the Kerch Strait. We, along with the vast majority of participating states, call on Russia to respect its international obligations and immediately cease obstructing, delaying and harassing the transit of vessels in the Kerch Strait bound for Ukrainian ports; to immediately release the seized Ukrainian personnel and vessels; and to de-escalate the tensions it has stoked.
Mr. Chair, the humanitarian situation in Russia-occupied Crimea remains deplorable. We renew our calls for Russia to release the more than 70 Ukrainians it has wrongfully imprisoned, including dozens of Crimeans. We note that Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko and Crimean farmer Volodymyr Balukh will both mark their birthdays tomorrow in Russian prisons. Both men have been imprisoned by Moscow on spurious charges. Their convictions were barely-veiled pretexts for punishing their opposition to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.…
– Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Harry Kamian, addressing the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on February 7. (Source: U.S. Mission to the OSCE)