Statement by Norway

STATEMENT ON THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ONGOING AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE As delivered by Minister Counsellor Knut-Are Sprauten Okstad at the 1574 th Permanent Council, Vienna, 23 July 2026 Norway aligns with the statement made by the European Union, but allow me to make a few remarks in my national capacity. Mr Chair, This weekend Russia struck a civilian cargo ship off Odesa. Ten people were killed. Crew members and a Ukrainian maritime pilot. Grain, not weapons. The same night, one of the heaviest ballistic attacks of the war hit Kyiv. Civilians. Merchant crews. Homes. This is what Russia hits. The pattern does not stop at the front line. In the temporarily occupied territories, Russia rules by force. Forced passportisation. Deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children. Arbitrary detention. Torture. Silencing of independent media. All documented by the OSCE, by the UN, by independent mechanisms. And the same methods are applied at home. Persecution of dissent. Sham trials. Russians who question this war face the same instruments as Ukrainians who resist occupation. A government that governs by fear is not governing from strength. It is rule by coercion, where fear does the work that legitimacy cannot do. Russia stands on occupied ground, but politically it stands on sand. Norway's support for Ukraine remains undiminished. Thank you. The OSCE Secretariat bears no responsibility for the content of this document and circulates it without altering its content. The distribution by OSCE Conference Services of this document is without prejudice to OSCE decisions, as set out in documents agreed by OSCE participating States. PC.DEL/787/2624 July 2026 ENGLISH only