Kiev, Nov. 29, (dpa/GNA) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is boycotting the annual ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) because of Russia’s participation.
Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said Kuleba was skipping the meeting that starts on Thursday in North Macedonia because Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would there.
“Russia has triggered an existential crisis in the OSCE and made the organization hostage to its whims and aggression,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
He said that Moscow has held three Ukrainian representatives of the OSCE in prison for more than 500 days.
A meeting between the foreign ministers of the two warring countries would do nothing to improve the situation, he said.
Nikolenko told Ukrainian media that Kiev’s ambassador-level delegation will be present at the meeting in the North Macedonian capital Skopje.
Other top diplomats will be at the regional security organization’s talks, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The OSCE is made up of 57 states, including Russia and Ukraine.
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the OSCE’s ability to act has been blocked by Moscow’s veto power in the body.
GNA