Suspension of Russia’s Permanent Observer Status at the Organization of American States

PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

APRIL 21, 2022Share

Today, the United States welcomes the adoption of a resolution at the Organization of American States (OAS) suspending Russia as a Permanent Observer to that institution.  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.  Our Hemisphere stands with Ukraine.

The Kremlin’s inhumanity in its premeditated, unprovoked, unjust war against Ukraine is horrifically clear.   Deaths and destruction mount daily.  More than 10 million Ukrainian citizens and others have been uprooted by the Kremlin’s coldblooded aggression.  On a global scale, Putin’s senseless war of choice has hurt economies and threatened the food security of the world’s most vulnerable.  As President Biden stated, “An overwhelming majority of nations recognize that Putin is not only attacking Ukraine, he is attacking the very foundations of global peace and security.”

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.  We commend the governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala for leading the adoption of the resolution, and all the governments that supported it.

The OAS action today sends a clear message to the Kremlin. The overwhelming number of countries in the Americas called upon the Kremlin to end its unconscionable war of choice, withdraw its forces, and comply with international law.