Russia poses as peacemaker, stepping up attacks on Ukraine’s east
Al Jazeera
Meanwhile, Ukraine rebuffs Hungary’s ceasefire plan as an independent media outlet scrutinises Russian war-related deaths.
Russia has sought to paint itself as a peacemaker in the war it started in Ukraine, calling NATO and Ukraine warmongers and storming out of the Organization for Security and Co-pperation in Europe (OSCE).
Russia formally withdrew the country’s delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday, after citing “discriminatory approaches, double standards and total Russophobia”.
The last straw, it said, was Romania’s refusal to grant the Russian delegation visas to attend the OSCE’s annual session in Bucharest this week.
The diplomatic posture appeared designed to push back against Ukraine’s peace conference in Switzerland last month, part of a global diplomatic process in which Ukraine has tried to win countries over to its view of how the war should end.
Respecting Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” is key to that view, and was part of a statement at the end of the conference.
