Polish FM says Russia's invasion of Ukraine an 'act of state terrorism'

Poland's foreign minister, who also chairs the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has said that Russia's operations in Ukraine, directed against civilians and aimed at breaking the spirit of the Ukrainian people, are an "act of state terrorism."

"Being an OSCE chairman, I cannot be impartial when Russia has been blatantly violating OSCE principles," Zbigniew Rau said during a press conference at the UN Security Council in New York, on Monday.

"Russia's aggression poses a threat to OSCE's existence," he added.

According to Rau, Russia has made a cruel joke of the UN Charter by means of its military operation, which "has turned out to be a strategic and tactical failure."

"...Instead of steps aimed at preventing unnecessary deaths in its own ranks, the Kremlin started a fight against civilians and to destroy infrastructure in an attempt to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people," Rau said, repeating that this was an act of state terrorism.

The Polish foreign minister has appealed to the UN Security Council to do everything it can to stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Referring to previous diplomatic talks, Rau said Russia had used them "to buy time to prepare an attack against Ukraine."

At the same time, he admitted that the diplomatic path aimed at solving the crisis "has not been closed," and called on Russia to resume talks.

"Russia had a full spectrum of possibilities to find a response to its security fears in a peaceful and diplomatic way," Rau said, adding that it turned out that it had been playing for time to prepare an unjustified aggression.

"I am calling on Russia to become engaged in a meaningful and business-like dialogue in order to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis," Rau concluded.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.