UNECE - Executive Committee (EXCOM): EU General Statement
The EU and its Member States would like to reiterate their unwavering support to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and their condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, in line with UNGA Resolution ES-11/1 entitled “Aggression against Ukraine”. The EU and its Member States take this opportunity to again urge Russia to immediately stop its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms the illegal sham “referenda” conducted in parts of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine currently and partially occupied by Russia. The EU does not and will never recognise these illegal “referenda” and their falsified outcome, nor any decision taken on the basis of this outcome, and urges all Members of the United Nations to do the same. We deplore Russia's path of confrontation also by announcing a partial mobilization and by threatening again with the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Regarding today’s developments in Moscow, we firmly condemn and unequivocally reject the illegal annexations and refer to yesterday’s statement of the UN Secretary General saying that “Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned” and “It must not be accepted”.
Russia’s attacks harming the Ukrainian civilian population and infrastructure have far-reaching consequences on transport, energy, environment, industry, trade and other important areas dealt with in UNECE, both in Ukraine and abroad. We emphasize that the Russian Federation’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, facilitated by Belarus, undermines the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, already off track by the COVID-19 pandemic.