Honouring remembrance by defending the principles of peace: UK statement to the OSCE
Ambassador Holland recalled the lessons of past conflicts and underlined the responsibility to defend the principles and institutions established to prevent their recurrence. Russia’s war against Ukraine violates these principles; a just and lasting peace requires an immediate ceasefire, serious dialogue and respect for existing commitments.
Thank you, Mr Chair.
Yesterday the United Kingdom marked Armistice Day. We remembered all those who have lost their lives in conflict, from the First World War to the present day.
Remembrance carries a responsibility. It asks us not only to honour the dead, but to learn the enduring lessons of the world wars. Many hoped the First World War would be the war to end all wars. Yet, just over two decades later, Europe was again engulfed in conflict.
Those lessons remain relevant today. Aggression must not be rewarded. No state’s grievances, history or sense of destiny entitle it to dominate its neighbours. Above all, peace cannot be taken for granted.
The defeat of Nazism came at immense cost to many nations, including the peoples of the Soviet Union. Millions of Ukrainians fought and died, while Ukraine suffered some of the war’s worst atrocities. Russia’s false claim that its invasion seeks the “denazification” of Ukraine abuses that shared history and insults those who sacrificed their lives to defeat Nazism.
Mr Chair, remembrance also requires us to consider how to ensure that peace endures. The foundations of a durable peace already exist.
The UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state. The Helsinki Final Act commits every participating State to sovereign equality, the inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity, non-intervention and the peaceful settlement of disputes. It also requires states to fulfil their international obligations in good faith. The Charter of Paris reaffirmed these principles and envisaged a Europe in which every state enjoys equal security and the freedom to choose its own security arrangements.
The OSCE’s security framework is built on these principles. Participating States agreed to maintain permanent channels for dialogue, to exchange information about their armed forces and military activities, and to provide advance notification and observation of certain military exercises. They developed instruments for risk reduction, consultation and verification because transparency reduces misunderstanding, dialogue enables concerns to be addressed, and confidence must rest on evidence rather than assertion.
These arrangements recognised that security could not be secured through spheres of influence or by denying another state its sovereign choices. Security requires restraint, predictability and respect for commitments freely given.
Russia accepted these principles and helped negotiate these arrangements. Yet it has denied Ukraine’s sovereignty, sought to change its borders by force, refused military transparency and used the language of security to justify making its neighbours less secure.
Let me be clear: the principles did not fail. Russia violated them.
Yesterday, we remembered those who lost their lives in war. Today, we should honour them by defending the principles and institutions designed to prevent its recurrence. Russia should accept an immediate ceasefire, engage seriously in dialogue and respect the commitments it has already made. This is the path towards a just and lasting peace.
Thank you.