24 February 2022 will be marked in history books as the day when Russia brought war back to Europe. Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine grossly violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter and threatens world peace as well as European and global security and stability. It is inflicting unspeakable suffering on the Ukrainian population.

Russia has violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent State that did not pose any threat, and to which Russia had given guarantees of security in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Russia must immediately cease hostilities and withdraw its military from the territory of Ukraine. Such use of force and coercion has no place in the 21st century. This is not “Russia’s war against the West”; it is “President Putin’s war against international law and global peace”.

Words matter. This is called by Russia a Special military operation so that the military does not have to inform the families of fallen soldiers (though by now hundreds of mothers of soldiers know they lost a son in a senseless war). It is nothing but a premeditated invasion by Russia.

Russia, and its accomplice Belarus, bear full responsibility for this war of aggression and those responsible will be held to account for their crimes, including for indiscriminately targeting civilians and civilian objects. Cluster munitions and thermobaric weapons have been used by Russian forces against civilian population in violation of international law.

We commend the people of Ukraine for their courage in defending their country and our shared values of freedom and democracy. Just as Mongolia, Ukraine has chosen thirty years ago a path of democracy and open economy, and has every right to choose their own alliances. We will not leave them alone. The European Union and its Member States and partners will continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support. We are committed to provide support for the reconstruction of a democratic Ukraine once the Russian onslaught has ceased. We are determined to increase even further our pressure on Russia and Belarus.

The Russian military aggression has created a humanitarian catastrophe resulting in the killing of civilians and in millions of displaced people and refugees. The European Union and its Member states and partners are providing humanitarian aid and civil protection assistance to all refugees from Ukraine including third country nationals. This is truly an all-European act of solidarity joined by members as well as non-members of the EU. Mongolian nationals themselves had to be evacuated in an emergency, with the help of the Government of Mongolia. We are committed to providing help to all those affected without discrimination.

We have adopted significant sanctions and remain ready to move quickly with further sanctions. Measures announced by the European Union have been very closely coordinated with partners and allies. Over forty countries have so far partially or completely aligned with our sanctions. This is testimony to the determination of the global community to reject this military aggression. The aim of the European Union sanctions is to undermine the capacity of President Putin’s regime to continue the war. Sanctions affect the Russian people, but they are not the target.  This is a war decided by President Putin, not by the Russian people.

Stopping this aggression and addressing its negative impacts on security and the global economy requires a collective mobilisation as seen recently at the UN General Assembly. We are ready to work with Mongolia to sustain the international mobilisation to end this war.

Russia’s resorting to disinformation and gross manipulations of the facts is a weapon directed towards all of us. Mongolia is equally exposed. Its free and independent media has every possibility to provide the public with independently sourced information. Europe is mobilised to debunk Russian propaganda (EUvsDisinfo.eu).

The European Union is a responsible global actor and we will continue to engage actively with all countries/partners on issues such as the COVID pandemic, climate change, international connectivity, non-proliferation, crisis management, and other important bilateral and multilateral issues

The war of aggression that President Putin has started, will have an adverse impact on many countries in the world, particularly countries, like Mongolia, that  are heavily dependent on imports of food, fertilisers and energy  We are already coordinating our efforts with Mongolia’s authorities and businesses to avoid collateral damage of the war on the economy.

Let us be clear on one point: the negative impact on fuel prices, agricultural commodity prices, which we are seeing already, are the result from the Russian aggression and military activities on Ukrainian soil, not from European Union sanctions.

We call on Mongolia, as a respected member of the international community, a dedicated member of the United Nations for 60 years, and a full member of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to join us in our calls for an immediate ceasefire as an essential precondition to establish humanitarian corridors. These corridors must be unconditionally and be respected from all sides.

Stop this war. Freedom will prevail. We stand with Ukraine.