A bipartisan group of US senators on Thursday sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking him to work with members of the Organization of American States, OAS, to revoke Russia’s status as a permanent observer of that entity.
The document points out that the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine has left thousands of deaths of innocent civilians and that on March 25 more than two thirds of the members of the OAS adopted a resolution on the need to review the Russia’s status as a permanent observer.
The status, granted nearly 30 years ago, “conferred international prestige on Russia and reflected the OAS’s aspirations that the country recover from more than 70 years of communist authoritarianism and take its place among other democratic and peaceful nations,” they said. the senators.
“Since then, Moscow’s growing authoritarianism on its soil, aggression against Ukraine and several of its neighbors, and malicious activities in our hemisphere call for a reassessment of Russia’s integration with the OAS.”
“We encourage the Biden administration to work with like-minded members of the Organization of American States to revoke Russia’s Permanent Observer status in response to its unprovoked, inhumane, and illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine,” the letter added.
“Russia’s record of aggression is incompatible with the principles and practices of the OAS, an organization that seeks to promote internationally recognized peace, sovereignty and human rights in the Western Hemisphere.”
The document was signed by Senators Bob Menéndez (D), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Jim Risch, a member of that committee, as well as Bill Cassidy (R), Tim Kaine (D), Rob Portman (R ), Marco Rubio (R), Ted Cruz (R), Ron Johnson (R), and Bill Hagerty (R).
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