14 April 2021 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered) Thank you Mister Chair, I would like to start by thanking you and your team for your efforts to convene this important and urgent meeting today. The UK shares Ukraine’s significant concerns about the recent increased Russian military activity on Ukraine’s border and in illegally annexed Crimea. We fully support Ukraine’s use of this Vienna Document mechanism to seek an explanation from Russia for this military activity and request greater transparency in order to deescalate the situation. Mister Chair, the Vienna Document is a key confidence and security building measure, through which we build transparency and reduce risk. Russia’s decision not to participate in the meeting convened on Saturday under Paragraph 16.2 of the Vienna Document, and indeed, Russia’s stated intention not to engage at all in any Chapter III meetings only deepens our concerns. We recognise a member of the Russian Delegation is present today and hope they will show a change of heart and now engage constructively here today after hearing the contributions of other participating States.