The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted this Friday a resolution on Ukraine that calls for the cessation of “acts that may constitute war crimes”, but the Ukrainian ambassador in Washington asked him to go one step further and suspend Russia as a permanent observer.
Of the 34 active members of the OAS, 28 voted in favour, none against and five abstained: Brazil, Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Nicaragua was absent from this Permanent Council, the executive body of the OAS, where on Wednesday its ambassador Arturo McFields denounced his country, led by Daniel Ortega, calling it a “dictatorship.” The government later claimed that it “does not represent him” and dismissed him.
The resolution on the crisis in Ukraine “demands respect for human rights and the immediate cessation of acts that may constitute war crimes” and calls on Russia “to immediately withdraw all its military forces and equipment and return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.”
The text describes “deeply worrying and totally unacceptable” the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the area.
The OAS, of which Ukraine and Russia are permanent observers, urges “all parties to strictly respect” international humanitarian law and to protect the civilian population.
The countries agree to “review, as necessary, the fulfillment of the Russian Federation’s commitments to the OAS as a permanent observer.”
The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, thanked the OAS several times for the resolution but asked it to consider “withdrawing Russia’s permanent observer status” because it is “unacceptable that someone who does not respect the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and who thinks it’s okay to kill children and kill innocent people on the territory of another state sits at the table with people who respect him”.