Lithuanian Foreign Ministry issues statement on 5th anniversary of Crimea’s occupation

This is stated in a statement by the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Lithuania on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Crimea’s occupation.

“Lithuania strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We condemn the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine that flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations, the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act, and bilateral agreements between Ukraine and Russia. We will continue to support Ukraine and coherently implement the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation and occupation of Crimea five years ago," the statement says.

Lithuania will continue to aim at having the international community strengthen its response to flagrant violations of international law by the Russian Federation in Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine, the Kerch Strait, and the Sea of Azov. Thus, international and EU sanctions against the Russian Federation must stay in place until Russia completely withdraws from the illegally occupied territory of Ukraine.

“At the same time, we have to respond to the current attempts of the Russian Federation to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, such as abridging the freedom of navigation in the Sea of Azov, as well as to provocative actions by Russian forces that rammed, shot at, and seized Ukrainian navy vessels and their crews in the Black Sea,“ the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry noted.

“We condemn these grave violations of international law and call on the Russian Federation to immediately release the sailors and all other Ukrainian citizens it illegally detained, to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports and to allow freedom of navigation in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, to put an end to all human rights violations, to respect all fundamental freedoms in Crimea, including freedom of the media, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of thought, belief, and religion, as well as to end persecution of Crimean Tatars,“ the statement says.