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Mr. President, An undeclared war is being waged by Russia against Ukraine. By now, barely making the world’s headlines because it is slow and creeping- a few more meters of captured land, a few more explosions, a few more Russian tanks, a few more dead at a time. As Europe marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe, Russia is doing all it can to resuscitate the bygone era of division and brinkmanship, continuing its aggression against Ukraine, buttressed by bogus claims of defending Russian speakers from the advances of fascism and outlandish accusations against Europe, and the West.

The abduction of an Estonian intelligence officer on the Estonia side of the border and a Ukrainian pilot in Ukraine, the alarming rise in the intensity and gravity of provocations involving Russian reconnaissance and fighter jets over an increasing territory, from the Baltic Sea region to Portugal, the US, Canada, and Japan - all points to a more aggressive unilateral Russian military posture going well beyond Ukraine’s borders.

The conflict in Ukraine is not an internal affair. Not a civil war. Nor a rebellion of disgruntled citizens. It is Russia’s war against Ukraine for daring to choose a different – European – path. Sponsored by the Kremlin, the illegal armed separatists, many of whom carry Russian passports, have been inflicting heavy damage on the Ukrainian forces and civilian population, before and during the ceasefire, using sophisticated weaponry, tanks, multiple rocket launcher systems, and heavy artillery. While Ukraine followed the ceasefire agreement, Russia-backed separatists used the time to rearm and grab more territory. By now, these illegal armed groups are probably better armed than some of the smaller European states.

All thanks to Russia’s continued support and supplies. We are profoundly worried by the recent reports of the Organization’s for Security and Co-operartion in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) registering unmarked convoys of trucks carrying substantial amounts of heavy weaponry, ammunition, Grad multiple-launch rocket systems and howitzers, as well as armored personnel carriers and tanks moving cross the border and westwards inside the separatist held areas. This is a clear and blatant violation of the cease-fire agreement, which called for the withdrawal of Russian weapons and troops from Ukraine and the sealing of the border under international observation.

Let us not forget that despite relevant provisions in the Minsk Protocol on the establishment of a permanent OSCE presence along the Ukraine-Russia border, Russia single-handedly prevented the expansion of such presence on the border, as a result of which OSCE observers monitor only 2 km of the Russia-Ukraine border out of a total of 400 km.

Mr. President,

The holding by the separatists of illegal elections in eastern Ukraine is another clear violation of the Minsk agreements. Russia alone endorsed these sham elections and even arranged the presence of “observers”, a bunch of hardline nationalists, Nazi sympathizers, and xenophobes, tried and tested in the illegal plebiscite of Crimea.

Mateusz Piskorski who poses for pictures with Nazi swastika in the background. Frank Creyelman of Vlaams Belang, an open xenophobe, known for demanding amnesty for those who had collaborated with Hitler regimes during World War II. Marton Gyongyosy, who once suggested that Hungarian Jews should be tallied up because they pose threat to the state. Srda Trifkovic, once the defender of Slobodan Milosevic and an Islamophobe. Ewald Stadler, member of the extreme party FPO, known for delivering one of the most racist speeches ever in a European parliament. The list could go on.

It is with the help of the odious characters like these that Moscow is “fighting fascism” in Ukraine. Little does it matter that Ukraine’s population squarely rejected the extreme forces during the recent national elections. As Russia flirts with Europe’s extremist fringe, the myth of Ukraine’s “fascist junta” continues to be advanced by Russia’s propaganda machine. What the Russian propaganda machinery won’t say however is that since Russian troops “liberated” the Crimea, human rights situation in the region has deteriorated dramatically, and that the separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine have been repeatedly described by the UN human rights reports as an abyss of lawlessness and criminality.

Russia’s disdain for the internationally accepted norms of behavior, international law and the Charter of the United Nations is astounding, including the manipulation of things humanitarian. Under the pretext of humanitarian aid Russia is preparing the seventh convoy to be sent into Ukraine without Ukraine’s consent and in violation of Ukraine’s borders. While the humanitarian needs in the region remain dire, the armed separatists have been gaining ground with each new convoy.

Today, the cost of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is some 400000 displaced, at least 4,035 killed and 9,336 wounded, and some 5.2m people living in conflict-affected areas. The result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is also Russia’s own young men returning home dead and anonymous, in the notorious Cargo200 boxes.

Mister President,

The Geneva statement, the Berlin Joint Declaration, the Minsk Protocol and Minsk Memorandum are the latest additions to the long list of documents and treaties that Russia has breached, from the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the 1997 Agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the presence of the Russian Black Sea fleet, to the 1997 Treaty on friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation and the UN Charter itself.

Only a full and sustainable return to ceasefire by all parties can defuse this increasingly bloody crisis before it gets completely out of hand. And that, with Russian troops amassed near Ukraine’s borders and increasing military movements in separatist held areas can happen any time.

Ukraine has been doing its part and must continue to do so, by pursuing a wide range of necessary reforms, fighting corruption, and reaching out to the affected regions to rebuild popular trust in national government. The onus is on Russia and its militant proxies in eastern Ukraine to do theirs.

Russia must stop threatening its neighbors, accept the spirit and letter of the Minsk agreements and allow unhindered international monitoring of the Ukrainian-Russian state border. Russia must disown the separatists and condemn all attempts by the self-proclaimed leaders to create parallel power structures in eastern Ukraine. As per the Minsk agreements, it must also withdraw its equipment, weapons, and troops from the Ukrainian territory and seal its borders to the movement of arms and mercenaries into the separatist held areas.

A peaceful settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine is squarely in Russia’s hands. It bears full responsibility for the further escalation of the situation – and for creating another frozen conflict in Europe. Attempts to redraw Europe’s borders by military force 25 years from the fall of the Berlin Wall are criminal and undermine the very foundations on which this organization, the United Nations, is built.

My delegation thanks the OSCE and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) for the important observation and monitoring work that is being done on the ground and stresses the importance of ensuring their continuing reporting from the conflict-affected zone. Providing an objective, unbiased alternative narrative is critical as Russia’s propaganda machinery is expanding its reach. My delegation reiterates its full support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. Ukraine’s European choice is not an imposition from the outside. It is the choice of the Ukrainian people who a year ago showed clearly they have had enough of corruption, enough of cronyism, enough of kleptocracy. That choice has been reaffirmed by the recent national elections and must be respected by all.