Moscow slams moves to prepare Kiev for NATO accession

Plans to prepare Kiev for NATO membership, announced by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe’s (OSCE) special envoy to Ukraine, will further deepen divisions instead of promoting unity, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. 

Petr Mares had previously stated in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper that he was working to help Ukraine on its path towards joining the US-led military bloc as well as the European Union. 

“I will not send them F-16s, Abrams tanks, or missiles, but I will prepare them for Ukraine’s future partnership and membership in the EU and NATO – these are my tasks,” Mares said. 

In a statement on her official Telegram channel on Thursday, Zakharova slammed Mares’ plans, suggesting that his comments were just as absurd as if “an ecologist said that he would dump oil refinery waste into the sea, and a firefighter promised to not stop fires.” 

“I think this news contains the whole essence of what the OSCE has become,” Zakharova wrote, arguing that the organization, which was once based on the immutable rule of consensus, is now completely ignoring the opinions of Russia and Belarus. 

Regarding Mares, Zakharova stated that the “quasi-representative of the OSCE is not engaged in harmonizing relations between the organization’s member states, but is deepening the split in the European space and acting in the interests of militaristic bloc structures which do not include even half of the OSCE member states.” 

The spokeswoman went on to claim that the West, in a “fit of ‘new normality’,” now appears to be working on gearing the OSCE towards “madness” and “self-destruction.” 

Russia’s permanent representative to the organization, Aleksandr Lukashevich, also previously told Izvestia that the OSCE’s decision to create the position of special representative for Ukraine and to appoint Mares to the role was made completely without Moscow or Minsk’s knowledge or approval.

“No one appointed Petr Mares,” Lukashevich said, stating that “we have not seen any announcements about the emergence of some special representative figure.” 

Mares is expected to formally enter his role next year when Finland takes over the OSCE’s rotating chairmanship. Aside from preparing Kiev for NATO membership, Mares has also advocated for the deployment of an OSCE peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. The previous one ceased its activities in the country in 2022 after the escalation in hostilities between Moscow and Kiev. 

However, such a move would require the unanimous support of all of the organization’s member states, and Russia has repeatedly opposed the idea of sending peacekeepers into Ukraine. Moscow has claimed that the OSCE is incapable of objectively resolving the Ukraine crisis under the current conditions.