On June 1, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mariana Betsa held a meeting with the delegation of Permanent Representatives of Participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the OSCE Secretariat members.

This visit of solidarity with Ukraine is being held in the context of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, all the fundamental principles of which are being grossly violated by Russia through its war of aggression against Ukraine ongoing since 2014.

Mariana Betsa expressed her sincere gratitude to the Finnish OSCE Chairpersonship-in-Office, Permanent Representatives of Austria, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Malta, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, France, and Switzerland for their visit and demonstration of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

“Ukraine highly appreciates the practical assistance that the OSCE and its Participating States provide to our country in implementing projects aimed at overcoming the consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,” Mariana Betsa stated.

The Deputy Minister encouraged Permanent Representatives to the OSCE to increase isolation, political and sanctions pressure on Russia, and noted the importance of further active involvement of the OSCE in documenting numerous Russia’s war crimes and other cruel violations of international humanitarian law in order to bring the aggressor state to accountability.

Mariana Betsa emphasized the importance of implementing OSCE’s projects to provide assistance to Ukrainian children affected by Russia’s war of aggression and encouraged the OSCE to join the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children to facilitate the return of children deported by Russia, their rehabilitation and reintegration.

The Deputy Minister emphasized the key role of the Special Representative of the Chairpersonship-in-Office - OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, Ambassador Petr Mareš, in implementing projects aimed at addressing Ukraine's priority needs caused by Russia’s full-scale military invasion.