U.S. says there is contrast between Russia’s rhetoric claiming adherence to OSCE principles and facts on ground

Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Harry Kamian said this at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, March 5, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Each week we witness a stark contrast in this council between Russia’s rhetoric claiming adherence to OSCE principles and the facts on the ground," he said.

Russia’s attempts to mislead do not hide the truth about the Russia-fomented conflict in eastern Ukraine, the abuses in Russia-occupied Crimea, Russia’s militarization of the Black Sea, its cyberattacks against Georgia, nor do they hide its mistreatment of peaceful religious and ethnic minorities at home and abroad, and its failure to conduct a credible investigation into the assassination of Russian politician and democracy defender Boris Nemtsov.

Kamian emphasized that the Russian government’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine undermined European security as a whole. "It is time for Moscow to end the bloodshed in Ukraine, and fulfill its Helsinki commitments," he said.

ish