(MENAFN- UkrinForm) According to an Ukrinform correspondent, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said this during the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna on Thursday.

"If we reread the founding documents of this organisation, then this organisation was established to keep war away from Europe. And yet, there is one member of this organisation that is not keeping to this. It is the Russian Federation that is blatantly violating international law but also the OSCE principles. We again call on Russia to immediately stop this senseless war of aggression against Ukraine and withdraw all forces and equipment, completely and unconditionally, from all Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," she said.

Kallas recalled that the OSCE did not emerge out of nowhere. The creation of the organization was due to shared "painful historic experiences."

"In the last 100 years, Russia has invaded at least 19 countries, many around this table and some as many as three or four times. None of these 19 countries has ever invaded or attacked Russia," Kallas stressed.

That is why, Kallas continued, in any peace agreement "we have to put the focus on how to get concessions from the Russian side, so that they stop aggression and desire to change borders by force."

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"The European Union will stay the course as only more pressure on Russia and more support to Ukraine will change the balance and have any hope for peace," she said.

Kallas pointed out that it is critically important to reduce Russia's ability to finance its war machine. "The 19th package of sanctions was adopted and the work on the next package continues. Of course, we understand it is painful, we all suffer from this, but we all want this war to end. And for that we need joint efforts and do this collectively. Wars end when the aggressor runs out of money to finance the wars. Ukraine and Europe stand for peace," she emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported, the annual meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe began on Thursday morning in the Austrian capital. Representatives of 57 OSCE participating states and 11 partner countries are taking part in the two-day event.

Ukraine's delegation to the event is headed by Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiha.

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