1.Madame Chair, we reiterate our strong support for Ukraine and our resolutecondemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which continues,and we see this on a daily basis, to bring unspeakable suffering on civilians anddamage to civilian infrastructure throughout the country.
2.Russia continues to violate the Helsinki Final Act and its ten principles that weredesigned to guide relations among the OSCE participating States. Russia’scalamitous war of aggression is, regretfully, a constant reminder of theircontinuous relevance and of the terrible consequences when a State decides totrample on these principles adopted almost 50 years ago. It is our duty to ensurethat the final Act remains the guiding norm, for all of us sitting in this room. Wereiterate our commitment to the OSCE Final Act and urge Russia to respect it.
3.For this reason, we strongly support Ukraine in exercising its inalienable right ofself-defence. Last week, EU Foreign Ministers discussed commitments to ensureUkraine’s security in the medium and long term. As European Union HighRepresentative for the Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell said after themeeting, a holistic approach was proposed that combines traditional militaryassistance with other elements based on cybersecurity and increasing Ukraine’sresilience on all fronts, from economic to industrial. The European Peace Facilityand the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine are key componentsof these actions, in addition to the Member States’ comprehensive efforts.
4.Our Leaders also addressed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine duringtheir Summit last week and concluded that ‘the European Union will continue toprovide strong financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic supportto Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes.’ In the immediate term, it isimportant to accelerate the delivery of military support to Ukraine to help meet itspressing military and defence needs, including missiles and ammunition, notablyunder the one million rounds of artillery ammunition initiative, as well as air defence
systems to protect its people and its critical and energy infrastructure. In the longer term, the European Union and its Member States will contribute, together with partners, to future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself, resist destabilisation efforts and deter acts of aggression in the future.
5.A comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on full recognition forthe country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity will restore respectfor the Helsinki Final Act and allow this Forum and this very Organisation to fullyexercise its mandate. We reiterate our support to the comprehensive 10-pointUkraine Peace Formula by President Zelenskyy.
6.Madame Chair, the EU and its Member States reiterate that Russia mustimmediately stop its war of aggression, and completely and unconditionallywithdraw all of its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukrainewithin its internationally recognised borders. We also reiterate our strong call onthe Belarusian authorities to stop providing support to Russia’s war of aggression,and to abide by their international obligations.

Thank you.
The Candidate Countries NORTH MACEDONIA*, MONTENEGRO*, ALBANIA*, UKRAINE, and BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA*, the Potential Candidate Country GEORGIA, and the EFTA countries ICELAND, LIECHTENSTEIN and NORWAY, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to bepart of the Stabilization and Association Process