Russia lost its status as a permanent observer to the Organization of American States over its premeditated, unprovoked, unjust war against Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said April 21.
The resolution was brought forward by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala, according to a State Department release.
“With the passage of this resolution, OAS member states demonstrated that we do not stand on the sidelines in the face of the Russian government’s violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses,” Blinken said, according to the release. “Our hemisphere stands with Ukraine.”
Removing its observer status sends a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin that the countries of the Americas have called upon them to end its war, withdraw its forces and comply with international law, he said in the release.
“The Russian government’s brutal attack against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty demonstrates the Kremlin’s utter contempt for the values of democracy and respect for human rights, values that form the bedrock of the Inter American system,” Blinken said in the release.
The inhumanity of its unprovoked, unjust war against Ukraine was called horrifically clear as deaths and destruction occur daily. The war has harmed economies globally, threatening food security for the most vulnerable, the release said.
