In order to save the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, we need to find a way to rid the OSCE of Russia, or to establish an organisation without Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said a briefing.
According to the foreign minister, four countries have officially announced that they will not attend the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje. These are Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. There are countries that have also expressed their disagreement with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in their own way.
The ministers of some countries have informed him today that they will not attend the ministerial meeting either, but will not speak about it publicly because they do not want to "offend anyone".
Some OSCE member states believe that Lavrov's presence will save the organisation from complete collapse due to the need to adopt a budget and decisions on the chairmanship and reappointment of the leadership.
"But I believe that if we really want to save the OSCE, we must either re-found the OSCE without Russia or find a way to expel Russia from the OSCE. That's all," Kuleba said.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will not participate in the OSCE meeting to be held on 30 November-1 December in Skopje, as Russia's Sergei Lavrov will be present. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Tuesday, 28 November, that they would boycott the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Skopje if Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is allowed to attend it.