Ukrainian president urges OSCE to do more to help it defeat Russia

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday urged the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to do more to help it defeat Russia.

“I urge you to do everything possible so that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe becomes a co-creator of the victory over Russian terror, and therefore a co-creator of peace on our continent,” Zelenskyy said during a video address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, meeting in the Polish capital Warsaw.

Zelenskyy criticized the OSCE for not being part of international platforms showing efforts against Russia and in isolating Moscow, most notably questioning Russia's continued membership in the organization.

“If it was not for the Polish decision regarding visas for the Russian delegation, for which I am grateful to Poland … the representatives of the terrorist state could be among you today. This fact is an open mockery of all the principles on the basis of which the OSCE was created,” Zelenskyy said, referring to a Polish refusal to issue a visa to a Russian delegation to attend an OSCE meeting on Dec. 1-2 in Lodz, Poland. Russia blasted the decision.

Russia’s war on Ukraine is a “test for any international organization,” he said, one showing whether it possesses any relevance and whether it is capable of “anything other than texts.”

“I urge you to do everything you can to ensure that the OSCE is among those who are truly able to stop terror and help bring Russian murderers and torturers to justice. If you can act effectively at the level of your national parliaments, then the parliamentary assemblies must be able to act too – and not only at the level of verbal condemnations,” he added.

Relations between Poland and Russia have been further strained since this February, when Moscow launched a war on Ukraine, sending millions of refugees into Poland, a former member of the Warsaw Pact.

On Nov. 15, a Ukrainian missile fell into Poland, killing two people. The missile was likely fired to protect from Russian airstrikes, and the West has blamed Russia for the incident.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​