Foreign Secretary statement on Russia's failure to turn up to OSCE military build-up meeting

Responding to Russia’s failure to send a representative to an OSCE meeting about its military build-up, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

Russia is patently failing to live up to the international commitments it has made around transparency.

If the Kremlin is serious about a diplomatic resolution, then it needs to show up to diplomatic meetings and commit to meaningful talks. Russia’s refusal to engage with the OSCE process demonstrates its contempt for the commitments it freely signed up to.

It is Russia that is the aggressor here. The troops stationed on the border are clear threat to Ukraine. The UK and our allies urge the Kremlin to withdraw its troops and enter discussions based on the proposals put forward by NATO to improve transparency and reduce risk.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Ukraine triggered Chapter 3 of the OSCE Vienna Document on 11 February, calling on Russia to explain its unacceptable military activity along the Ukrainian border and in illegally-annexed Crimea. Russia had 48 hours to respond but did so eight hours late and without engaging on the substance.

Ukraine triggered the next step, a technical meeting with Russia and all OSCE States today (Tuesday 15 February) to ask Russia to address its concerns. No Russian representative attended.

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