OSCE Permanent Council No. 1506

Vienna, 30 January 2025

EU Statement on the Russian Federation’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine

1. The European Union is grateful to the current and preceding OSCE Chairpersonships of Finland and Malta for their unwavering support for Ukraine and addressing the challenges Ukraine faces due to Russia’s ongoing war of aggression. We commend the Finnish CiO, Foreign Minister Valtonen, for prioritising support for Ukraine, exemplified by her visit on 8 January.
2. On the same day, Russian aerial bombs hitthe Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, reportedly killing at least 13 people and injuring 110, marking the highest civilian toll in nearly two years. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU): “Aerial glide bombs have become one of the greatest threats to civilians in cities along the frontline”.  The HRMMU reported a rise in civilian casualties in 2024, with at least 2,064 civilians killed and 9,089 injured in 2024, a significant increase compared to 2023. The escalation is largely attributed to Russia’s increased use of these weapons.
3. The latest Independent International Commission of Inquiry report in 2024, and the OHCHR reports provide growing evidence that Russian forces deliberately and systematically target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, which constitutes a war crime. On 25 December, as Ukrainians celebrated Christmas, Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on critical energy infrastructure in multiple Ukrainian regions. The EU strongly condemns Russia`s intensified and deliberate large-scale, coordinated attacks on Ukraine`s energy grid, causing country-wide blackouts with the aim of weaponising the onset of winter. Despite Russia’s false claims that these attacks target military objectives, evidence shows they disproportionately harm civilians, as highlighted by HRMMU. We are also appalled by Russia`s reported use of short-range drones to target civilians in Kherson. The persistent nature of such attacks demonstrate Russia`s total lack of commitment to peace and its disregard for international law.
4. Mr. Chair, the situation in the Ukrainian territories, temporarily and illegally occupied by Russia, continues to deteriorate. As we approach eleven years since Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and three years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus’ support, the suffering of the Ukrainian people persists.The latest OHCHR report documents Russia’s systematic human rights violations, including torture, ill-treatment of prisoners, and crimes against humanity due to Russia’s coordinated state policy of systematic and widespread use of torture across Russian detention facilities. Russian authorities continue to commit atrocities, including the execution of captured Ukrainian service members, as verified by OHCHR. These actions violate the Geneva Conventions and demonstrate Russia's contempt for international humanitarian law.
5. Ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as for all crimes committed in connection with Russia`s war of aggression, remains paramount for achieving the just and lasting peace Ukraine deserves. Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression against Ukraine and other crimes under international law, as well as for the massive damage caused by its war. The OSCE Moscow Mechanism and ODIHR reports remain crucial tools in our pursuit of justice and we will continue to make full use of them.
6. The EU strongly condemns the repeated violation of the airspace of EU Member States, such as that of Romania on 17 January, in the context of continued drone attacks against civilian targets and port infrastructure of Ukraine. Russia must immediately stop these dangerous and irresponsible acts.
7. Mr. Chair, we reiterate the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, as well as for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the UN Charter and international law and in line with the key principles and objectives of Ukraine’s Peace Formula. We underline the principle that no initiative regarding Ukraine be taken without Ukraine.
8. We reaffirm the our determination to continue to provide financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed to help Ukraine exercise its inherent right to self-defence. The EU and its Member States are collectively Ukraine’s largest international donor. We have provided over € 134 billion in total, but it is clear that Ukraine needs more.
9. The EU also remains committed to limiting Russia’s ability to wage its war of aggression. On 16 December, the EU adopted its 15th sanctions package, targeting Russia’s shadow fleet, shipping companies, and military-industrial complex. We are ready to step up pressure, including through additional sanctions.
10. We will continue to support Ukraine's resilience and reconstruction in line with its self-determined European future. We fully support the new Special Representative of the OSCE Chairpersonship-in-Office, Ambassador Petr Mareš, and the SPU’s efforts to help Ukraine rebuild, recover, and reform, while advancing key priorities outlined in Ukraine’s Peace Formula.
11. The EU strongly condemns support by third countries, and actors and entities therein, which enable Russia to sustain its war of aggression against Ukraine. The arms transfers and deepening military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK and Iran, as well as the deployment of the DPRK’s military forces to Russia and their use on the battlefield against Ukraine represent an international escalation of the war, with serious consequences for international peace and security. The EU urges all countries to immediately cease any direct or indirect assistance to Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
12. We urge the aggressor, Russia, to immediately stop its illegal war, and to completely and unconditionally withdraw all its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.