According to Michael Carpenter, Russia's violation of international agreements negates the possibility of concluding any agreements with it in the future.
Representative USA Michael Carpenter, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, criticized Russia for non-compliance with generally accepted rules of interstate behavior and questioned the advisability of negotiating anything with it in such conditions.
Ukrinform reports this.
“Just think about the number of obligations that have been violated by the Russian Federation over the past few years: the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the Treaty on Open Skies, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights… I could go on and on,” Carpenter said.
According to the ambassador, “Russia has gone even further” and questioned the very need to comply with the rules of interstate behavior. Carpenter noted that Putin showed disdain for the agreed rules of international relations, calling them “garbage,” and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov refused to recognize the “notorious rules-based order.”
The Ambassador also recalled that the Russian delegation at the Forum for Security Cooperation also mocked international norms of behavior, and called them “an order based on fools.”
“And these are not just words. There is a consistent pattern of behavior that confirms them,” said the head of the US mission to the OSCE.
Carpenter drew the attention of the meeting participants to the fact that on March 4, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Medvedev said that “Ukraine is, of course, Russia.”
“But we all know that in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, Russia pledged to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. So, the question is what obligations assumed by the Russian Federation can we count on today? Do they exist at all?” – asked the ambassador.
He also recalled Putin’s words about a “world order based on rules.” Then the Russian President said that “such rules do not exist, and in reality they change every day depending on the current political agenda and the temporary interests of those who talk about it.”
The head of the US mission to the OSCE emphasized that such statements by the leader of the Russian Federation and his entourage are “not just a theory,” but a sequence of concrete actions that have already destroyed the lives of millions of Ukrainians.
“Russian leaders argue that the West applies the rules-based order selectively. But it is Russia that is the epitome of selective adherence to the rules… How can we make agreements with a state that recognizes the rules only when they contribute to its narrow interests, ignoring all those that contribute to global peace, security and human dignity?” – Michael Carpenter addressed members of the OSCE Council.
According to him, Russia despises general obligations and international law. And in such a situation, it is extremely important how the OSCE reacts to this.
“Shall we pretend that new “agreements” and commitments are possible? Or will we insist on full responsibility first? Do we pretend that compromise is still possible, or will we insist that our principles cannot be compromised? How we respond has enormous consequences for the future of this organization,” the US representative emphasized.
Recall that since 2014, Russia has violated about 400 international treaties, one of which is Ukraine, in particular the Budapest Memorandum, the Charter of the United Nations, a number of UN conventions and the Helsinki Agreements.
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