During a press phone call, US Representative to the OSCE Daniel Baer laid out the results of a two-day meeting of OSCE foreign ministers, held in Hamburg on December 8-9, as well as the efforts made by the organization in resolving the conflict in the Donbas. In particular, he listed specific steps which Russia should make to implement the Minsk Agreements. The Day seized the opportunity to ask the US permanent representative some questions. In particular, we were curious, how could the OSCE force Russia to comply with its obligations in this regard, as Ambassador Baer noted in his speech on December 9? And in general, how should the OSCE be reorganized so that the organization becomes effective, and not just a platform for making statements?
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE OSCE AS A FORUM FOR POLITICAL DIALOG
“I would disagree with the premise of your question – I don’t agree with the characterization of the OSCE as ‘just a place for issuing statements.’ It fails to acknowledge the importance of the OSCE as a forum for political dialog – both at the foreign minister level as you saw last week in Hamburg, and also every week at the Permanent Council in Vienna – to maintain unity and keep Ukraine at the top of the international agenda. Of course, the OSCE is also engaged operationally and diplomatically – for example through the SMM and the Trilateral Contact Group of the OSCE, Ukraine, and Russia.
“We work hard to support the operational work that the OSCE is doing on the ground – with several hundred monitors keeping world leaders informed of ceasefire violations and continued Russian military support to its proxies in eastern Ukraine. The OSCE Observer Mission along the Russian-Ukrainian border is also significant – providing fact-based, real-time information to leaders on the flow of troops, equipment, and materiel into the Donbas – and hopefully, eventually, their removal back to Russia. And the OSCE program office in Kyiv has a number of programs to support Ukraine’s ongoing reform efforts to help the government realize the Ukrainian people’s ambition to build a modern, democratic, European state.
“I would add that our engagement with the OSCE is only one element of our efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine and to hold Russia accountable for its occupation of Crimea and on-going hybrid war in eastern Ukraine. It is one of many elements. President Obama has taken a leading role in engaging with European and other Heads of State to ensure unity on Ukraine. Together, we have imposed biting sanctions that have raised the cost for aggression and sought to hold Russia accountable for its violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have provided significant security assistance to help Ukraine defend itself and the economic support and assistance. We and other international donors have also been critical to Ukraine’s ability to continue to press ahead on democratic reform.”
“RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE TO FACE MORE PRESSURE”
You mentioned the isolation of Russia as a success of the last ministerial meeting, but how can this isolation help us to achieve tangible results, like, say, the implementation of the Minsk Agreements?
“Russia’s isolation is a result of its behavior in contrast to that of other OSCE participating States. It is not a desired outcome, but it should be a message to Russia that the rest of the OSCE community expects Russia to abide by its commitments and uphold principles, including with respect to Ukraine and Minsk implementation, which they have repeatedly signed up to, even as they have failed to follow through.
“Russia’s bad behavior has real costs. It has financial cost – the sanctions that it frequently expresses great discomfort about at the OSCE. It has political cost – countries are less willing or unwilling to cooperate with Russia on matters Russia would be interested in pursuing. And it has reputational cost. Instead of being recognized as a regional power with a vibrant history, governments and people around the world see Russia as a bully and an authoritarian state that refuses to play by the rules, that does not act in good faith, that denies the Russian people their fundamental freedoms and human rights, and that seeks to erode the fundamentals of freedom and democracy beyond its border.
“Taken collectively, this isolation and these costs mean that Russia will continue to face more pressure – including with respect to implementing the Minsk Agreements. And they mean that countries will not be shy about calling out Russia for its violations and looking at additional measures that can be taken to hold Russia to account for its actions.”
“WE NEED TO GET THAT SUSTAINED AND SUSTAINABLE CEASEFIRE”
You must have heard the statement by Ukrainian minister Pavlo Klimkin who called the OSCE armed mission in the Donbas a “leap into the future.” Do you see the OSCE as capable of creating and sending an armed mission to eastern Ukraine to monitor the elections?
“With respect to a police mission or election security presence for the Donbas, there’s never been a formal proposal tabled. As you know, right now the OSCE has the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and a small Observer Mission at two checkpoints along the Russian-Ukrainian border. Both of those are civilian, unarmed missions, and we think they should carry on doing their work according to their mandates.
“We’ve said that, if a ceasefire is achieved, if there’s full visibility of the border and that ceasefire is sustained and sustainable, that would open up the opportunity for some progress on other parts of the Minsk Agreements. And if at that time there is a need for more support from the international community to facilitate the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, we should consider it then. So far, the discussion has taken place more in press conferences than in formal meetings.
“I think the real issue is that we need to get that sustained and sustainable ceasefire, end the fighting on the ground, and figure out together what else is necessary on the part of the international community. We, as the United States, are open-minded about that conversation, and we will go into it with a practical lens of what’s really needed based on the situation on the ground. And we heard last week from High Representative Federica Mogherini a similar perspective, which is that the EU would also base any genuine discussion on the situation on the ground.”
“THE IMPORTANCE OF THE U.S. RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR EUROPEAN ALLIES AND PARTNERS WILL NOT CHANGE”
By the way, can you predict how the coming Trump administration will perceive the role of the OSCE in the world, given that Donald Trump said that NATO was obsolete?
“I’m President Obama’s Ambassador to the OSCE, so I speak for the current Administration, not the President-elect. I’d encourage you to read the piece I wrote for Medium.com (https://medium.com/foggy-bottom/in-stormy-seas-stay-the-course-9285dc453...), which addresses this more fully, but in short, I think a lot of people have pointed out that the fundamental importance of transatlantic relations and solidarity to American security and world stability remains constant – as both Democrats and Republicans have long recognized.
“Some things may change, but the importance of the US relationship with our European allies and partners will not. The principles, commitments, and shared values that have undergirded our cooperation since the signing of the Helsinki Final Act will continue to provide a rock-solid foundation for our work, the United States and Europe will continue to stand together in the face of global threats, and Transatlantic cooperation will remain critical to solving global challenges.”
