Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 February 2024.

UK Minister of State, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, addressed a Reinforced meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, underling support for Ukraine and the role of the OSCE and its founding principles.

Thank you, Minister Borg for bringing us all together. And thank you again for your leadership as Chair at such a challenging time.

The OSCE exists to support security in our region.

So it is absolutely fitting that we gather today, two years after the illegal, unprovoked and wholly unjustified invasion of one of our participating States by another.

Ministers discussed this in Skopje. Since then, the fundamentals have not changed.

First, it remains absolutely clear that Russia is responsible.

As time passes, Russia twists itself into even more implausible contortions to justify its position.

But the reality of Russia’s war is tragic.

Because people are still dying every day in Ukraine.

Russia’s defiance of all laws and norms – from the Helsinki Decalogue to the UN Charter – to long-standing principles of just war …

… is not only a threat to security in our region, …

… but it is a threat to the international order.

Nevertheless, it is heartening that there are few illusions here about what Russia is doing.

We must, however, continue to make it absolutely clear: there is no possible defence for Russia’s behaviour.

Secondly, we must stand with Ukraine and stand up for human rights.

Dmytro, your soldiers and your people continue to defy the odds.

They display the utmost bravery and great skill in keeping Moscow under pressure. Consider the news in recent weeks.

Another Russian transport ship sunk by Ukraine – a further blow to President Putin’s hold on Crimea.

A precious A-50 spy plane and over-hyped hypersonic Kinzhal missiles struck down – a further blow to President Putin’s stocks of modern military equipment.

And news that Ukraine is on track to export all its 2023 grain – a further blow to President Putin’s strategy of economic pressure.

Since we last met, my Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Ukraine.

Addressing the Rada, he said: “Be in no doubt…. We are here for Ukraine – for as long as it takes.”

I know this is a shared conviction; I see a quiet determination across most states, to stand with Ukraine, and to stand up for our values.

Finally, we must of course also back the OSCE.

The creation of this organisation heralded a new age.

It took time. But the Cold War ended. And a new age did dawn.

An age in which we all, here at the OSCE, sought to build a more constructive relationship with Moscow.

Sadly, President Putin has rejected this.

Indeed, Kremlin repression in defiance of OSCE principles continues unabated, with the tragic death of Alexei Navalny showing how they silence those who speak out.

It is clear that President Putin will not stop in his reckless actions.

He has rejected the hope represented by the OSCE.

So we must redouble our efforts to maintain this organisation– times like these show us more than ever why it is needed.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 February 2024.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron gave a statement to the United Nations General Assembly Debate on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Thank you, Mr President. Today, I want to cover 3 points.

First, the history. Two years ago, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But let’s go back a little further. In 2008, I visited Tbilisi in Georgia shortly after Russian forces invaded South Ossetia. I said then that if we did not stand up to Putin, he would be back for more.

In 2014, I was Prime Minister as his ‘little green men’ seized control of Crimea. I said again that if we did not stand up to Putin, he would be back for more.

Now, having tried and failed to conquer all of Ukraine, the lesson of this history is clear. If we do not stand up to Putin, he will be back for more.

Compared to 2008 and 2014, I do believe the world has started properly to wake up to Putin’s menace. Yet here is the tragedy of it all.

Prior to 2014, did Ukraine pose a threat to Russia? No.

Did Russia object to the formation of the Ukrainian state in 1991? No.

Did it in 1994, when signing the Budapest Memorandum? No – in fact Russia pledged never to use force against Ukraine.

If the Ukrainian state was such a threat to Russian-speaking residents, why did every region of Ukraine vote for independence, Crimea and the Donbas included?

Cut through ludicrous accusations of Nazism against a state with a Jewish President, and what are you left with? Nothing but the ahistorical claim that Ukraine’s very existence is ‘anti-Russian’. A claim which runs contrary to the principle of self-determination, one of the foundations of the United Nations.

Putin tries to claim that Russia is fighting not against Ukraine, but against the whole of the West. He claims we are somehow out to dismember Russia. That is the central lie of this war.

The truth is we – myself included – spent years trying to build a new relationship with Moscow after the end of the Cold War. We did that because we profoundly believe that a secure, stable Russia, at peace with its neighbours, is in our interests and the world’s.

It is a tragedy that Putin prefers to hark back to the ninth century to justify aggression, rather than taking up this offer of a different path.

And turning to the consequences of all this. The scenes in territories liberated from Russia defy belief.

Take Bucha. As has just been said, mutilated bodies of civilians with hands bound, shot at close range. A children’s centre turned into a torture chamber. The rape of teenage girls. Disturbing radio intercepts of Russian soldiers referring to this as ‘cleansing’.

Or consider places still held by Russia. Business gone. Independent media quashed. The rights of minorities, such as the Crimean Tartars, denied. Sinister ‘re-education centres’. Forcible deportations, with children torn from their parents to be raised as ‘Russians’. Ukrainians forced to accept Russian passports, or drafted to fight for Putin. Citizens forced to vote in sham referendums and now, outrageously, Russian Presidential elections held on Ukrainian territory.

Crimea in particular now far more dependent on Moscow for budgetary support than it ever was to Kyiv. Invasion has brought these regions neither peace nor prosperity.

And nor has Putin’s gambit benefited Russians. No Russian soldier had died fighting Ukraine before 2014 – now they have suffered over 300,000 casualties. Moreover, since the invasion, Russia has suffered its first attempted coup in over 3 decades, and its first debt default for over a century.

Nor has the rest of the world been spared the consequences of this war. Rising energy and food costs have fuelled inflation. This has had consequences, especially for the world’s poorest.

And this leads to my final point, why we must stay strong.

Two years on, I recognise some want to rethink. There is a sense of fatigue, there are other problems, a compromise might seem attractive. But this is wrong.

We must recognise the cost of giving up. Putin has said there will be no peace until Russia’s goals are achieved. And in his recent interview, he studiously avoided confirming he was satisfied with the land seized from Ukraine at present.

This is not a man seeking compromise. Rather, this is a neo-imperialist bully who believes might is right. An unjust peace now merely invites a return to fighting in Ukraine when it suits him.

But ultimately we must stay strong not only for the sake of Ukraine. Yes, Ukraine has been wronged. Yes, we admire their decision to pursue a democratic path, and fight for their right to do so. But crucially, we also know that this matters to all of us.

If Putin were to eke out some kind of win, the rest of the world would suffer too. What starts in Ukraine would not end there. Putin could easily apply his distortions of history elsewhere, such as Moldova or the Baltic States.

And others will be emboldened to turn to fighting when it suits them. No country with a large, aggressive neighbour would be safe.

And that leads to the other great lie. Russia poses as a friend of those who feel cut out by the international system, but it has shown no interest in changes to make it fairer, such as Security Council reform. It does virtually nothing to support the key funds to back the poorest of our world such as GAVI or the Global Fund or the IDA under the World Bank. And its actions in Ukraine are so brazen so as to threaten the system itself.

So yes, we should stand by Ukraine. But not just for Ukraine. Not just for Europe. But for the world and a simple principle.

The security of borders. The sanctity of nations. The principle of self-determination.

Ukraine’s fight is our fight. The world’s fight. And the world must stay strong.

Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 February 2024.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron spoke at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine, marking 2 years since Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Thank you, Madam President, and Mr Secretary General.

We meet 2 years since Vladimir Putin ordered a wholly unprovoked invasion of a sovereign member of the United Nations. Airstrikes at dawn. Tanks rolling across the border. Preposterous claims this was not a declaration of war.

In many ways, the most remarkable thing was the total lack of any justification whatsoever of any threat from Ukraine. The abject disregard for the laws that bind nations, and for the principles of this United Nations. The brazenness with which Putin still claimed this was somehow legitimate.

Days after February the 24th, the United Nations General Assembly declared that the invasion was wrong and that Russia must withdraw immediately. Two years on, this has not changed. And so today, I want to pose 2 questions.

My first, to the Kremlin.

My first visit as Foreign Secretary was to Ukraine.  I stood in the wreckage of Odesa’s bombed-out cathedral. I saw brave Ukrainians kissing loved ones goodbye as they left to defend their homeland.

And I know that such scenes are not limited to Ukraine. Russian mothers too have had to bid farewell to Russian sons, Russian cities too now bear the scars of war.

So my question to Putin is simple. Why? His government claims this to be a battle between brothers. What twisted form of brotherhood is this, for which so many lives must be ruined?

How is Russia living up to its responsibilities as a permanent member of this Council to uphold international peace and security? And how many ridiculous explanations have we now had for the invasion? Are they criminals, or fellow Russians?

One minute Ukraine is an existential threat. The next we’re told it doesn’t exist. Are you fighting stooges of NATO, or Nazis?

The only people behaving like Nazis are the Putin regime: invading another country and hoping the world will be weak and let you get away with it. That is the simple truth: Putin believes he can take territories, re-draw borders, exercise force to build his empire. And we must not let this stand.

We know Ukraine’s answer. We saw the courage of President Zelenskyy 2 years ago.

And I say to the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, he is quite capable, and the Ukrainian people are quite capable, of making up their own mind about whether they should surrender part of their country to your illegal invasion.

And today, we admire the perseverance of the Ukrainian people, day in, day out. They won’t falter.  Indeed, they are continuing to push Russia back, liberating half the land Putin has seized and driving the Russian navy out of its base in Sevastapol.

The course of the war may ebb and flow. But the seizure of a small town does not change the reality of Russia’s situation. The Russian military is being drained of its modern equipment. You’re having to rely on poor quality shells from Pyongyang.  And you’ve sent a generation of Russian boys into the meat grinder. What do you tell their mothers they died for? Or don’t you even bother?

The Kremlin expected Ukraine to fold. But they are standing firm for their freedom. And you should all know Britain’s answer as well.

Last month, the Prime Minister was the first foreign leader to address the Rada. We are the first country to have signed a security pact with Ukraine.

And yesterday we imposed further sanctions, clamping down on Russia’s military-industrial complex and those enablers seeking to keep it running. These sanctions are a reminder. We won’t falter. We will stand firm for Ukraine’s freedom.

And the world has also seen Alexei Navalny’s answer. He showed incredible courage in returning to Russia. He didn’t falter. And he has now suffered terrible consequences for standing firm for Russian democracy.

And today is an opportunity, Secretary General,  to give the world’s answer.

All of us abhor needless suffering. None of us have escaped the economic consequences of the war. And yet, we all know what is at stake here.

In acting so brazenly, Putin is not only trying to seize a chunk of his neighbour’s territory. He is not only trying to extinguish the Ukrainian people’s right to self-determination. He is openly trying to upset the international order, replacing it not with some progressive vision of equality of nations but with a return to a 19th century ideology where might – particularly his might – is right.

This is why we all must stand up to Putin. Not just out of sympathy for Ukraine. But because his actions in Ukraine are so dangerous for everyone else.

If we give into the idea that one country can invade another with impunity, then we will be left in a dreadful situation where any country could face a similar fate. Respect for sovereignty lies at the heart of the international system. At the heart of the United Nations.  Nothing matters more to its members than having our borders treated as inviolable.

And that’s why nothing should matter more to us than seeing Putin fail. We must not falter. We must stand firm.

Thank you.