The foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine have announced that they will not participate in the OSCE summit to be held in Skopje, North Macedonia. The reason was the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the summit. Participation in such an event would mean legitimizing Russia's military aggression, the foreign ministers said.
"Over the past two years, we have witnessed one OSCE participating state actively and brutally trying to destroy another. <...> The OSCE was originally established to strengthen European security, prevent conflicts and preserve peace. russia has proven time and again through its illegal and brutal actions that it is not a security partner of Europe. In fact, today Europe needs security from and against Russia, not with it."
The ministers also called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, compensation for damages and punishment of war criminals.
The OSCE summit will be held from November 30 to December 1. At the same time, North Macedonia agreed to open its airspace for Lavrov's plane.
Background. As a reminder, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and the Wagner PMC as a terrorist organization.