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President, 

On 24 August, we celebrated Ukraine’s Independence Day, and the exceptional bravery and resilience that Ukrainians have shown in defending their country, their identity and their freedom. The EU is united in its unequivocal support to Ukraine as it heroically resists Russia’s aggression and its neo-colonial aims – the only true so-called “root cause” of this war. 

The EU reiterates its resolute condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression. It constitutes a manifest violation of international law, including the UN Charter, and the resolutions of the General Assembly, and must be, for that reason alone, called out by all UN Member States, without any hesitation or equivocation.  

Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol in 2014 and the occupation of other Ukrainian territories, both before and since its 2022 full-scale invasion, blatantly breaches the core principles of the UN Charter, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

No territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal. Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are Ukraine. The EU firmly rejects and will never recognise the illegal so-called ‘elections’ organised by Russia in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, nor their results.

Accepting or whitewashing Russia’s actions in Ukraine’s occupied territories erodes the rules-based international order and emboldens future acts of aggression elsewhere. It signals territorial claims can be rewarded, weakening universal norms that protect all nations, large and small. International borders must not be changed by force. 

President, 

The EU considers that a full and unconditional ceasefire would best create the right conditions for real negotiations. Now more than ever, the UN membership needs to increase pressure on Russia to stop the killing and to engage in meaningful negotiations. While Russia speaks of peace, its actions demonstrate the exact opposite intention. Over the past few months, it has only intensified its attacks across Ukraine, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Last week, its missiles caused severe damage to the EU Delegation premises in Kyiv. Russia’s increased bombing campaigns are in full defiance of recent peace efforts by the international community, which Russia claims to support. 

We welcome the efforts by the US to seek an end to Russia’s war of aggression and to stop the killing. As the EU, we contribute to these efforts in order to achieve a just and lasting peace and long-term security for Ukraine and our continent. 

Achieving such a peace requires respect for international law, including the sovereignty, independence, and inviolability of Ukraine’s borders. Only Ukraine can make decisions on its territory. Russian proposals that demand Ukraine to withdraw from its own sovereign territory reveal Russia’s contempt for the UN Charter and international law.

The EU is gravely concerned about the continued violation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories. International monitoring mechanisms, including the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the UN Commission of Inquiry, have concluded that Russia has committed a wide range of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Ukraine. These violations include widespread and systematic summary executions, torture and ill-treatment and unlawful confinement, as well as inhumane detention conditions, rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence and forced transfer and deportation, including of children. Many of these may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression against Ukraine and for these other serious crimes under international law, as well as for the massive damage caused by its war.

The Ukrainian people deserve a secure, independent future - free from war and political coercion. To achieve that, the EU will continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine, as it is exercising its inherent right of self-defence.

We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. 

Thank you.