UK at OSCE: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine viated Code of Conduct

Ankur Narayan, Counsellor for Pitico-Military Affairs at the UK Delegation to the OSCE, said this at a meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Coeration in Vienna on Wednesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The Code commits us to act in sidarity if OSCE norms and commitments are viated. As catalogued by the OSCE Moscow Mechanisms, ODIHR and UN, there is irrefutable independent evidence of Russia viating international law, including international humanitarian law. As per the Code, such breaches are a 'direct and legitimate' concern for us all," the British diplomat said at a meeting dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the OSCE's Code of Conduct.

He stressed that Russia rejects the sovereign right of other states to choose their treaties of alliance, breaching Paragraph 11 of the Code. Russia's imposition of military domination over any other participating state is already a viation of Paragraph 13. Russia also viated Paragraph 14 of the OSCE Code of Conduct by stationing armed forces in the territories of other states – namely Ukraine, Georgia and Mdova – without a freely negotiated agreement, in line with international law.

In his speech, Narayan dwelt in detail on Russia's viations of paragraphs 30, 31 and 34 of the Code, which "compel states to ensure that their armed and security forces abide by international law." He singled out three separate elements, including attacks against critical civilian infrastructure ahead of winter, conflict-related sexual vience, and prisoners of war.

Narayan emphasized that Belarus had breached Paragraph 8 of the OSCE Code of Conduct by becoming an accomplice to Russia's illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine and supporting Russian forces and allowing them to use Belarusian territory for attacks against Ukraine.

"This is why we again demand that Russia withdraws fully and unconditionally from the whe territory of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders. We demand independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of viations of international humanitarian law and abuses of international human rights law.  The victims deserve justice. And we will keep working tirelessly with our international partners to this end," he said.