DISINFO: OSCE ministers shun Lavrov because they are afraid of Russia
SUMMARY
The West is afraid to even talk to Russia. This is cowardice. That is why US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states avoided meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the OSCE ministerial meeting in North Macedonia. The West has been waging a hysterical hybrid war against Russia for two years. They have no clear arguments while Russia presented its own arguments at the meeting in detail, and no one objected to them.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that Kyiv and Western countries are conducting Russophobic policies. This claim was made in the context of Russia's unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries refused to attend the OSCE ministerial meeting in North Macedonia in protest against Russia's unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that:
“Ukraine highly appreciates the efforts of North Macedonia as Chairpersonship in 2023 as well as of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani personally,” but refused to send its minister to the meeting because Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would attend it. The statement also said:
“In view of this, the delegation of Ukraine will not participate in the OSCE Ministerial meeting at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, Ukraine remains committed to the principles of the OSCE and is ready to continue working with partners to restore respect for the Helsinki Final Act, in particular through the implementation of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
See also the press remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in which he said:
"I understand the unease of some participating states about your decision to allow Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov to participate.
I understand because with its illegal war against Ukraine, Russia is violating the United Nations Charter, is violating the same principles of the OSCE and violating international law at large. And for that, it is facing international sanctions and international isolation.
Yet, your decision to allow Lavrov to participate is in line with our common objective to keep multilateralism alive. And Lavrov needs to hear again from everyone why Russia is being condemned and isolated. It will be a good occasion for him to listen directly from the participants of this meeting why Russia is being condemned and isolated.
Then, he will be able to come back to [the] Kremlin and report to the Kremlin master that the European Union and the OSCE remain united in deploring Russia's aggressive unlawful behaviour. It is going to be at least useful from this point of view."
These countries are open for dialogue on how to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on the principles of the UN Charter. Some NATO member states provide Ukraine with weapons with the sole aim of helping it repel Russia's unprovoked aggression. Ukraine receives weapons to restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
The US, the EU and NATO condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is entirely unjustified and unprovoked.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The West is the aggressor in Ukraine not Russia, that West did not want peace, it prodded Ukraine into war, and that The West dreams of dismembering Russia.