I am grateful to the Under-Secretary-General Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo for her important and comprehensive briefing. I also thank the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ms. Heidi Grau, as well as OSCE SMM Chief Monitor Mr. Halit Cevik, for their updates of the activities on the ground, we fully support your tireless efforts within the Trilateral Contact Group.
Estonia reconfirms its strong support to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including territorial waters. We condemn the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the occupation of certain territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, Russia has neither acknowledged nor reversed its actions – on the contrary, for the 7th year in a row the Russian Federation continues blatantly violating fundamental principles of international law, in particular the UN Charter as well as a number of bilateral and multilateral agreements and commitments, including the Helsinki Final Act and the Budapest Memorandum. Therefore, Russian’s actions are not only a European concern, but a global one, they pose threats to international peace and security.
We deeply regret that the Russian Federation keeps violating the Minsk Agreement and the conclusions of the Paris Summit, particularly regarding the withdrawal of heavy weapons – 91% of all violations of the withdrawal of heavy weapons have been recorded in the non-government controlled areas. Even during COVID-19 when humanitarian situation has been severe, the cease-fire violations have been regularly recorded, and the numbers have even increased since November. Since the beginning of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, more than 30 000 people have been injured and over 13 000 people killed, including 298 passengers of flight MH17. The BUK missile system utilized to bring down flight MH17 belonged to the armed forces of the Russian Federation according to the independent and impartial Joint Investigation Team. This was a heinous crime, which yet again constitutes a grave breach of international law and proves that Russian’s actions are of serious global concern.
We support the efforts by the OSCE and Trilateral Contact Group towards facilitating the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We commend Ukraine’s political will and constructive approach to finding ways to achieve a solution to the conflict. However, security remains the basic element of the de-escalation and a lasting solution. A 400-km long uncontrolled border between Ukraine and Russia is a gateway for a free flows of Russian weaponry and military personnel that only adds to the tense and fragile situation of Donbass.
Therefore, we once again underline Russia’s responsibility and call on the Russian Federation, as a party to the conflict, to fully implement its commitments of the Minsk Agreements, including those undertaken at the Normandy Summit held in Paris in 2019.
We also urge the Russian Federation to immediately stop fuelling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the armed formations it backs, and we remain deeply concerned about the presence of Russian military equipment and personnel in the non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine.
We support the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s valuable work. We are concerned that the SMM’s freedom of movement has been restricted, despite the fact that Russia as a signatory of the Minsk agreements, has agreed on the need to ensure the SMM safe and secure access to the entire territory of Ukraine, including Crimea.
The International human rights law also continues to be severely violated in the annexed and occupied areas. Violations are targeted towards persons belonging to any minority, group or organization that dissents from the views of the government of the Russian Federation. Deprivation of civil and property rights through forced passportization and conscription are violations of international law and run counter to the spirit of the Minsk agreements. These violations must stop immediately. All persons detained illegally must be released and international human rights monitoring mechanisms and non-governmental organizations must be given access to the annexed and occupied territories.
Finally, we reiterate our call on Russia to abide by international law and uphold its international commitments.
