The OSCE will close the Office of the Project Coordinator in Ukraine due to the veto of the Russian Federation, which did not agree to extend its mandate.

This was stated in a communiqué of the organization.

The current head of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga-Maria Schmidt announced the start of steps to close the office.

"Unfortunately, despite the general support of the participating countries for the continuation of the important work carried out by the project coordinator over the past 23 years, a consensus could not be reached to extend its mandate because of Russia's position," said Zbigniew Rau.

He noted that the Polish chairmanship would do everything possible to preserve the experience of the Ukrainian office and for the OSCE to continue to be present and cooperate with Ukraine.

"Now that the country is facing an unprecedented ordeal due to the war, our support is more important than ever," the OSCE head added.

Zbigniew Rau said that the Polish Chairmanship would continue consultations with OSCE participating States on the organization's future role and presence in Ukraine.

All activities within the project coordinator of Ukraine are terminated as of July 1.

The office of the OSCE project coordinator in Ukraine has been working since June 1999.

We shall remind you that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently urged the OSCE to find a way to suspend Russia's powers in the organization, noting that otherwise it would destroy the OSCE itself.