Press release, 10 December 2018
The Seimas adopted a Resolution on Support for Ukraine in the Face of Aggression from the Russian Federation. The Resolution was adopted by 79 votes in favour, none against, and two abstentions.
The Resolution strongly condemns the military aggression against Ukraine and aggressive unilateral actions of the Russian Federation as constituting a serious violation of bilateral and multilateral agreements, a breach of standards of international law, and a threat to the wider region and to European security; it further calls for putting an immediate end to the said actions.
The Resolution considers the attack by the Russian Federation against the vessels of the Ukrainian Navy and their crews as well as the blocking of the Kerch Strait on 25 November 2018 to be an act of military aggression under the definition of aggression in the 1974 UN Resolution No. 3314 and believes it to be a serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in breach of the fundamental principles of international law.
The Resolution notes that the Russian Federation has been deliberately putting in place coherent destructive and aggressive actions targeting Ukraine, the European Union, NATO, their member countries, and the critics of the Kremlin. By carrying out a military attack in Kerch, the Resolution claims, Russia has crossed the red line.
The Resolution adopted by the Seimas calls for a radical overhaul of the Western strategy of containment of Russia. It calls for identification of actions to be carried out by Russia and for an implementation of a much more effective and broader set of sanctions in the event of non-compliance.
The Seimas, by its Resolution, suggests that the requirements for Russia should include:
- Immediate transfer of the Kerch Strait to the control of the United Nations;
- Transfer of control over the Ukrainian territories occupied and controlled by Russia to the United Nations peacekeeping mission;
- Liberation of all the Ukrainian citizens arrested and imprisoned as political prisoners and prisoners of war.
If Russia fails to implement these requirements in the near future, or vetoes these decisions, comprehensive sanctions relating to the Russian gas, oil and financial sectors are called for, including Russia’s removal from the SWIFT system.
The Resolution approves the strengthening of the NATO presence in the Black Sea and calls on the EU and NATO members to extend and reinforce their sanctions against Russia and to expand and deepen their cooperation with Ukraine by reinforcing its defence capabilities, helping it to implement reforms and ensuring that Ukraine is well prepared to start EU accession negotiations by 2027.
The Seimas calls on the EU Member States, NATO countries, the Organisation of the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and their parliamentary assemblies to take every measure to ensure that Russia puts an end to its aggression against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the militarisation of the illegally annexed Crimea and the Sea of Azov, adheres to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and implements the Minsk Agreements. In reaction to the events of 25 November 2018, the Seimas calls on the aforementioned stakeholders to take very effort to impose additional sanctions against those responsible for the acts of aggression committed on 25 November 2018 and implement effective sectoral sanctions to halt Russia’s de facto annexation of the Sea of Azov.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: egle.trembo@lrs.lt