UN resolution on Crimea will be a tool in de-occupation of peninsula - MFA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said this in a statement published on its website on December 18.

"Despite desperate attempts of the Russian Federation to hamper the adoption of the document, the United Nations General Assembly once again condemned the temporary occupation by the Russian Federation of the Crimean peninsula and sent a clear message on the non-recognition of its attempted annexation. The Russian Federation must withdraw its military forces from Crimea and immediately stop the illegal occupation of the territory of Ukraine," reads the statement.

The ministry said that the occupation of Crimea, the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine by Russia is in contravention to its commitments made under the Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Budapest Memorandum).

The statement notes that the resolution expresses its utmost concern about unjustified use of force by the Russian Federation against three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea that resulted in the serious wounding of individual crews members and calls on the Russian Federation to release the vessels and their personnel without delay.

"Under the Russian occupation, Crimea has been transformed into a powerful military base, which threatens security and stability of the Black sea region, as well as Mediterranean and the Middle East," the Foreign Ministry said.

The resolution also calls on Russia to refrain from impeding the lawful exercise of navigational rights and freedoms in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait in accordance with applicable international law, in particular provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

An important element of the resolution is condemnation of Russia's construction and opening of the Kerch Strait Bridge as well as increase of Russian presence in the water areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

"Wide support of Ukraine's position concerning Crimea and condemnation of militarization of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is a clear signal for the Russian Federation: Russian crimes and provocations will not stay beyond the attention of international community, and the aggressor state will respond for the violations of law," the ministry said.

The statement says that Ukraine reaffirms its adherence to the political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

"In this regard, a new resolution will be used in the context of Ukrainian efforts on de-occupation of the territory of our state, as well as renewal of stability in the Black Sea and Azov Sea region," the document says.

On December 17, the UN General Assembly adopted a Ukraine-initiated resolution entitled "Problem of the Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov." A total of 66 states supported the document, 19 voted against it, and 72 abstained.