54 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review NATO, the EU and the UN to ensure that Russia is held to account for its actions. We are working with EU partners to maintain the pressure of sanctions on Russia to comply with the commitments it entered into at the Minsk Summit, withdraw from Crimea, and meet its international obligations in respect of the rule of law, human rights and democracy. We will continue to take firm steps to maintain peace and security. 5.46 We also want to keep open the possibility of cooperation. We will continue to seek to engage with Russia on global security, including international efforts to tackle the ISIL threat, building on the successful cooperation that we shared in negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. 5.47 We support a diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Ukraine and will continue to work to uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty, assist its people and build resilience. We have provided humanitarian aid, and we will continue to support Ukraine with advice and assistance on fighting corruption, defence reform and training their Armed Forces. We will continue to support the EU Assistance Mission which the UK was instrumental in launching, as part of a wider package of support from the EU. 5.48 The threats of both state-sponsored and non-state actors undermining the security and stability of the Western Balkans and Eastern neighbourhood are likely to endure. We will continue to work with NATO and the EU, as well as bilaterally, to build greater resilience in the region, including through our programme to support governance and economic reforms, tackle terrorism and extremism, and deal with migration challenges. We will continue to support the EU’s peacekeeping operation in Bosnia. This mission, which uses NATO Headquarters, makes an important contribution to peace and stability in the Western Balkans. 5.49 The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the largest regional security organisation in the world, plays an important role in crisis and conflict resolution. We will use our influence as a leading member to develop the OSCE’s role in Ukraine, and support the OSCE’s work on conventional arms control, confidence and security building measures, and democracy and human rights with all 56 participating states, including Russia. The wider world The Commonwealth 5.50 The Commonwealth is a worldwide partnership of diversity and shared values. We will work with the new Secretary-General to strengthen the Commonwealth’s promotion of democratic values, development, and trade and investment and to address extremism and radicalisation, corruption and climate change. We will strengthen partnerships with Commonwealth countries around the world, as described later in this section. 5.51 Our strong bilateral defence and security relationship with Australia reflects a modern partnership which addresses issues of common concern. We are partners in the Five Eyes and Five Power Defence Arrangements and share common interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Our relationship is underpinned by the 2013 Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty, and we have annual meetings of foreign and defence ministers (AUKMIN) through which we coordinate responses to security challenges such as ISIL. Since March 2014, the UK has operated alongside Australia on the two Malaysian airline incidents, Ebola in Sierra Leone and disaster relief in Vanuatu; and we continue to work closely on counter-ISIL operations in Iraq.

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