- FINAL -

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

The European Union recalls its unwavering support to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders including its territorial waters.

On 26 February 2021, it will be seven years since the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation.  This illegal annexation remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of all States.  In line with the UN General Assembly resolutions 68/262 and 75/29, the EU reconfirms its condemnation of this violation of international law and continues to implement its consistent non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation, including through restrictive measures, together with its transatlantic partners.

This issue is not only a serious bilateral or European concern, but a global one. By its acts of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has violated several international agreements and other instruments – notably the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, but also the Paris Charter (1990), Commonwealth of Independent States Founding Agreement (1991), the Budapest Memorandum (1994), the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership (1997) and the Azov Treaty (2003) – to name a few.

The EU will continue to support Ukraine's resilience, including improving its ability to counter hybrid threats. The EU reaffirms, in line with the conclusions of the 7th EU-Ukraine Association Council held on 11 February 2021, its resolute support for Ukraine's reform efforts, especially when it comes to the implementation of commitments linked to the Association Agreement. The EU has since 2014 committed together with financial institutions over EUR 15 billion in grants and loans to cooperation with Ukraine. EU Member States are also significantly involved on a bilateral basis. The Ukraine Reform Conference in Vilnius will be an important moment to demonstrate the achievements Ukraine has made and to further strengthen the reforms and fight against corruption.

The EU continues to condemn the clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014 and the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation, which we will not recognise. As a strong supporter of international law and effective multilateralism, we work to ensure the respect of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in all international organizations – the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and of course the United Nations, in line with the General Assembly resolutions 68/262 and 75/29 and 75/192. The EU will continue to fully support the diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We welcome Ukraine’s efforts to continue to seek justice using international legal instruments and courts, including in the European Court of Human Rights, in arbitration courts, the International Court of Justice etc. We underline in this regard the importance of respect for judicial decisions and their timely implementation, and recall the decision given by the European Court of Human Rights recognizing that Russia has effective control over the Crimean peninsula since 27/02/2014.

The ongoing Russian militarization of the Crimean peninsula continues to negatively impact the security situation in the Black Sea region and beyond. We continue to call on Russia to refrain from impeding the lawful exercise of navigational rights and freedoms to and from the Sea of Azov in accordance with international law. Russia's unjustified use of force on 25 November 2018 near the Kerch Strait, the construction of the Kerch Bridge without Ukraine’s consent, and the opening of its railway section in December 2019 are violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which we have repeatedly condemned.

Since the illegal annexation by the Russian Federation, the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula has severely deteriorated. Residents of the peninsula face systematic restrictions of human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as the rights to freedom of expression, religion or belief and association and the right to peaceful assembly. In particular, the human rights of the Crimean Tatars have been targeted. In this regard we emphasize our calls for the immediate release of all imprisoned human rights defenders, including Dzhemil Gafarov, Valentyn Vygivsky, Ivan Yatskin, Nariman Mezhmedinov, Emir-Usein Kuku and Teimur Abdullayev. The condition of their health is very poor and they urgently need appropriate medical care.

In accordance with UN General Assembly resolution 75/29 adopted last December, it is crucial that the regional and international human rights monitoring mechanisms as well as the non-governmental human rights organisations have unimpeded access to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Journalists, other media workers, human rights defenders and defence lawyers should be able to work independently and without undue interference and intimidation. We welcome the work of Ukrainian human rights organisations and the Crimean prosecutor who, temporarily from mainland Ukraine, records human rights violations and abuses. Violations and abuses of human rights and of international humanitarian law must be investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. We keep calling for the immediate release of all those Ukrainian citizens who have been illegally detained by Russia and sentenced in breach of international law. In this regard, we call on the Russian Federation to stop changing the demographic structure in Crimea by the resettlement of its own civilian population to the peninsula. Last but not least we also expect Russia to take measures to improve the environmental situation in Crimea, which has considerably worsened.

Regarding the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the EU remains firm in its call on all sides to swiftly and fully implement the Minsk agreements and honour their commitments in full in order to achieve a sustainable political solution to the conflict in line with international law, underlining Russia’s responsibility in this regard. The EU fully supports the efforts of the OSCE, the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. It is now of utmost importance that the Minsk Agreements are fully implemented, more than a year after the December 2019 Paris Summit conclusions. We recall that the release of 239 conflict-related detainees in December 2019 and April 2020 is a positive CBM deriving from the Paris Summit and we call on the sides to move forward with further exchanges of prisoners.

In this regard we urge the sides to fully respect their reiterated commitments. Although the recommitment to the ceasefire by the sides on 27 July 2020 contributed to a significant decrease of violence on the ground, we deplore that recent spikes in violations and sniper activity have resulted in casualties among military personnel. We call on Russia to exert its considerable influence over the armed formations it backs to ensure that the ceasefire be fully implemented.

We call on Russia to immediately stop fuelling the conflict by providing financial and military support to the aforementioned armed formations, and we remain deeply concerned about the presence of Russian military equipment and personnel in areas currently not under the control of the Government of Ukraine.

We also call on Russia to stop its policy of issuing Russian passports in large numbers to Ukrainian citizens, not only to residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, but also those residing in areas under the control of the government in Kyiv. This practice directly contradicts the spirit and objectives of the Minsk agreements and is undermining Ukraine`s sovereignty.

The EU condemns the continuous deterioration of the respect for human rights and humanitarian law in the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, too. The duration of the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia is linked to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements.

We remain concerned about the continued restrictions of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM)’s freedom of movement, particularly in the non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region and near the border with the Russian Federation. We once again deplore the targeting of SMM assets, including SMM UAVs, by means of signal interference and small arms fire. The SMM must have safe, secure, unconditional and unimpeded access to the entire territory of Ukraine, in line with its mandate. This includes the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and along the Ukraine-Russia state border, to which the SMM is systematically denied access by the Russia-backed armed formations. Civilians are the ones paying the heaviest price when the sides do not adhere to the ceasefire, when they do not withdraw heavy weapons and when they do not remove mines, but instead are laying new ones. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic puts an additional strain on the humanitarian and human rights situation, and should not be used as an excuse, by the so-called representatives of the areas currently not under the control of the Ukraine government, to limit unduly the freedom of movement through the Line of Contact.

We welcome the inclusive approach by Ukraine towards the population of the conflict-affected areas of east and southeast of Ukraine. We welcome that civilian crossing over the Stanytsia Luhanska Bridge has been made easier since the opening of the new section of the bridge on 20 November 2019. However, we are concerned by the fact that almost all crossing points along the Line of Contact remain closed, while the Ukraine-Russia state border is still being crossed by thousands every day. While Ukraine fulfilled its obligation from the Paris summit conclusions to open new checkpoints in Zolote and Shchastya in November, they still remain closed from the other side to this day. We call on Russia to use its influence over the armed formations it backs to reopen all existing crossing points on the line of contact without delay. Moreover, the exceedingly long queues at the entry exit checkpoints expose civilians to the risk of small-arms fire, shelling and hazards posed by mines and unexploded ordnance.  We reiterate our call on Russia to use its considerable influence over the armed formations it backs in order to open the Zolote and Shchastia entry-exit check points, as well as all existing crossing points on the Line of Contact without delay, based primarily on humanitarian criteria. The ICRC should be granted full and unconditional access to all detained persons.

After almost seven years of conflict, the volatile security situation in eastern Ukraine has an increasing impact on the civilian population, in particular the persons in the most vulnerable situations living in the Non-Government Controlled Areas and along both sides of the contact line, where people are under continuous threat of shelling. We share a profound concern for their sufferings. Adequate social benefits and pensions to all the conflict affected population, regardless of their place of residence and in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution should be provided. Protection of the supply of water, energy and other utilities across the Line of Contact and mitigation of environmental risk are key to avoid worsening of the situation. Prompt implementation of the mine action law and setting up a national mine action centre to effectively address the contamination by mines and unexploded ordnances in conflict affected areas is key.

As a result of the conflict 3,4 million Ukrainians are still in need of humanitarian assistance. We call on the sides to respect international humanitarian law and guarantee unhindered and sustained access for humanitarian actors, including UNHCR and other UN agencies, as well as national and international NGOs, to all people in need. The decreasing level of humanitarian funding is reducing the ability to deliver humanitarian assistance. The European Union, together with its 27 Member States, is the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Ukraine with hundreds of millions EUR since the beginning of the conflict. The EU will continue to support humanitarian organisations in their important work to alleviate suffering and promote resilience of affected populations, particularly along the contact line.