MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Moscow is urging the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations to make Kiev end torture against captured Russian troops, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control Konstantin Gavrilov said.
"We call on the member states of the OSCE, the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other relevant international organizations to sway Kiev and take effective measures to prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from committing criminal acts against civilians, as well as to put an end to torture against captured Russian troops and the desecration of their dead bodies," the diplomat said at Wednesday’s plenary session of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
Gavrilov emphasized that "today, the anti-Russian trend in the activities of a certain group of OSCE member states is perfectly clear." According to him, "it is no longer a secret to anyone that defeating Russia on the battlefield at all costs using someone else's hands is the long-term goal that the US and its allies seek to achieve in Ukraine."
The diplomat also noted that Russia kept recording all the crimes that Kiev was committing under the West’s protection, so their masterminds and perpetrators would be punished. "The lack of reaction from the US and other NATO countries to Kiev’s trampling of international humanitarian law is just more proof of their direct involvement in the conflict," Gavrilov went on to say.
"Despite the difficult situation in the field of European security, we believe that it is important to maintain dialogue on the implementation of the [OSCE] Code. We confirm that Russia is interested in boosting international cooperation on related issues, and look forward to the practical implementation of its standards in a broad international context," Gavrilov concluded.