UWC condemns Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine
and calls on international communityto protect Ukraine’s sovereignty
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) condemns and expresses outrage over the occupation of Ukraine’s territories by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and calls for immediate action by the international community.
On February 28, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the deployment of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine under the false pretext of an “extraordinary situation that has taken shape in Ukraine and the threat to the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation, our compatriots, and the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who are deployed on the territory of Ukraine […].”
In stark contrast, a petition addressed to President Putin, created on February 28, 2014 and already endorsed by 118,870 ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking nationals of Ukraine, states that: “We ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainian nationals do not need other countries to defend our interests. We are grateful to you for support however would like to inform you that nobody has ever infringed our rights on Ukrainian territory.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine violates Russia’s international obligations under the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the legal framework regulating the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine.
The UWC fully supports the call by Ukraine’s governing authorities for the U.S., the European Union, and NATO to defend Ukraine against this military intervention.
“The international community must pressure Russian authorities to immediately recall their troops and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
