Dear Mr. Chairman,
As can be concluded from the speeches of a number of OSCE participating States, they believe that they are on the “right side of history”. The Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky once said: “History is not a teacher, but a supervisor: she does not teach anything, but only punishes for ignorance of lessons.” Dear colleagues have not learned their lessons. But they still have time to force Kiev to refrain from a bloody and suicidal adventure in the Donbass.
Many events have taken place in and around Ukraine in recent weeks, so today I would like to make a detailed statement. Colleagues will have to be patient.
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine is the result of a staged, financed and organized coup d’etat from abroad, which took place on February 21, 2014. Coup d’etat in Kiev led to a key role of the United States in the governance of Ukraine, which is unprecedented in world practice. American and other Western advisers have completely flooded the authorities of this country – from the central to the municipal, not to mention state-owned companies and corporations.
The forceful change of the head of state was carried out without elections, in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, and led to its actual split into regions that recognized the new Kiev government, and those that opposed the coup. This happened, among other things, because the imposition of the power of the putschists was accompanied by large-scale violence, the flourishing of the activities of neo-Nazi movements, persecution on national and linguistic grounds. As a result, the confrontation of the new regime in Kiev with the population of the districts of Donetsk and Lugansk has acquired a protracted armed character.
France, Germany and Poland acted as intermediaries between the government and the opposition and became guarantors of the agreements reached between them, but did nothing to implement them when the opposition defiantly refused them. And the United States did not recognize the fact of violation of the agreement by the oppositionists at all. For eight years in a row, the situation was repeated: Paris, Berlin and Washington were powerless in the face of Kiev’s categorical unwillingness to implement the Minsk agreements.
It still amazes us that the events in Ukraine, located 8 thousand km away from the American mainland, were called by the US administration “posing a significant and extraordinary threat to national security and US foreign policy.” In 2012-2013, the US leadership actually gave the Ukrainian authorities an ultimatum to choose the “Western way”. Subsequently, the financial support of the Kiev “Maidan” from the American embassy amounted to about one million dollars a day.
The message of the Russian delegation is very clear: international law prohibits the organization, incitement, financing, incitement or admission of activities aimed at violating the constitutional order of another state. The complicity of the United States in the coup in Kiev in 2014 is an international offense and a gross violation of Article 2 (7) of the UN Charter, which proclaims the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
Mr. Chairman,
In recent weeks, we have witnessed a large-scale orgy of hatred, information terrorism and propaganda hysteria that has engulfed the pan-European community. Today’s speeches of distinguished colleagues lead to the following questions.
If the United States and its allies claim to be champions of the OSCE’s military-political commitments, then why do they turn a blind eye to Kiev’s failure to comply with the Vienna Document 2011? 120 thousand Ukrainian servicemen are concentrated near the borders of the LPR and the DPR. Ukraine is concentrating heavy equipment on the line of contact, including thousands of armored combat vehicles, hundreds of tanks, multiple launch rocket systems and Tochka-U tactical missile systems. Where are the Ukrainian notifications on the OSCE Communications Network? Where are the pictures of the vaunted American satellites? We call to account the Ukrainian delegation, which has been manipulating the provisions of the VD-2011 for the past week.
If the United States and its allies declare that they want peace in Ukraine, then why are arms and ammunition supplies continuing to this conflict-torn country? History has not yet seen a single case when peace would be achieved by pumping weapons. Nevertheless, foreign systems “NLAW”, “Javelin” and “Stinger” have already appeared at the forefront of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass. There are already more ATGM and MANPADS complexes in Ukraine in total than in some NATO countries. Western intelligence agencies are recruiting militants to be sent to Ukraine from the South-East of Europe. The ongoing development of the territory of Ukraine by NATO countries leads only to one thing – the creation of an anti-Russian NATO bridgehead. However, the best solution for Kiev would be to refuse to join the alliance and opt for neutrality.
If the United States and its allies are calling for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, then why have they never addressed this call to Ukraine at the OSCE platform? We still have not heard the Western reaction to the statements of the Ukrainian leadership that “Minsk” is “outdated”, is “unrealizable” and Kiev is not going to fulfill it. Russia has never been a party to the Minsk agreements, but for seven years in a row, as a co-mediator of a peaceful settlement, it called on Ukraine to fulfill its obligations under the “Package of Measures” approved by UN Security Council resolution 2202. There is nothing to call for now. The Minsk agreements are buried by Kiev’s inaction.
If the Ukrainian delegation talks about the need for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, then why has Kiev been waging war against its own people for eight years in a row? For what reason has an economic, social and transport blockade been operating against Donbass for eight years in a row, which can be equated with the genocide of its own people? Why do the EU, the USA, Canada, the UK at the FSB never worry about the fate of ordinary people in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions? Where are their usual mantras about “civilians”, human rights, “old people and children”, “women and girls”? Apparently, from the point of view of “civilized democracies” and their followers, these people do not need to be protected.
Mr. Chairman,
In the last week in the Donbass, the situation remained explosive. The Armed Forces of Ukraine did not conduct spontaneous fire, but aimed. Tanks were used. There are civilian casualties. Cases of shells hitting the territory of the Russian Federation, primarily the Rostov region, have been recorded. Under these conditions, the leadership of the DPR and LPR announced a general mobilization. Our country has confirmed its readiness to accept refugees – the elderly, women and children. I would like to emphasize that we have already received over 94 thousand people. They did not go to Kiev, where they are not expected, but to a place where they can feel safe and will not be at risk of physical extermination because of dissent.
Under the circumstances, on February 21, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. This step enjoys high support both in Russian society and in the republics themselves, where the Russian-speaking population lives, associating itself with the Russian world. Yesterday, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation supported this decision, and Treaties on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with both republics were ratified.
The decision was made taking into account a comprehensive assessment of the military-political situation in the region, Kiev’s refusal to implement the Minsk agreements in direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the incitement of Western states to a military solution to the internal Ukrainian conflict, which could have catastrophic humanitarian consequences.
This decision corresponds to the free expression of the will of the residents of Donbass, who held a corresponding referendum on May 11, 2014, the provisions of the UN Charter, the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations between States, the Final Act of the CSCE and other fundamental documents.
We call on the Kiev authorities to immediately cease hostilities. Otherwise, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated, the entire responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodshed will be entirely on the conscience of the regime ruling on the territory of Ukraine.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Please attach this statement to the Journal of the Day.
