LITHUANIA URGED RUSSIA TO CEASE ACTIONS AIMED AT DESTABILIZING SITUATION IN UKRAINE
13 April, New York. “Lithuania is deeply concerned with the sharpdeteriorationof the situation in Eastern Ukraine. External forces and provocateurs continue to fuelseparatism and hatred, destabilizing the situation in the Eastern Ukraine", - stressed Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations, delivering a statement at the Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
Ambassador Murmokaitė noted that in spite of reassurances from Moscow a few weeks ago, military aggression against Ukraine, its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity had not stopped with Crimea. The scenario of current unrest in eastern Ukraine is dangerously familiar, she said, drawing parallels with events leading to Crimea’s occupation. She conveyed the condemnation of the Lithuanian Government of the actions by separatist groups in Donetsk region and other eastern regions of Ukraine, including Luhansk and Kharkiv. She welcomed the efforts of Ukrainian Government to reestablish law and order and authority of the state.
"The independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine are being threatened, and this threat is a threat to the security and stability of the whole region, Europe, and beyond”, - noted the Lithuanian Ambassador.
“We urge the Russian Federation to call back its troops from the Ukrainian border, stop supporting separatist groups and to cease any further actions aimed at destabilizing Ukraine. A meeting between the US, Russia, Ukraine and EU foreseen for 17 April in Geneva offers a viable chance for dialogue and diplomacy. We call on Russia not to waste that opportunity”, - stressed Ambassador Murmokaitė.
The emergency Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine late Sunday night was called by the Russian Federation. Lithuania and a number of other Security Council members requested the meeting to be public. Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco briefed the Council on the latest developments in Ukraine, warning that the escalation poses a serious security threat beyond Ukraine. It was the 10th meeting of the Security Council on the subject since February 2014.
