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Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, On 24 October 1945 the United Nations  came into existence  in response to the unspeakable horrors of World War II, which left an indelible scar of the Holocaust on the conscience of humanity and caused a total of 60 to 80 million deaths.

Addressing the San Francisco conference earlier that year, President Truman stressed that “with ever-increasing brutality and destruction, modern warfare, if unchecked, would ultimately crush all civilization.” “We still have a choice,” he said, “between the alternatives: the continuation of international chaos--or the establishment of a world organization for the enforcement of peace.”

When the Charter was signed on June 26 1945 by 50 nations. Lithuania was not among them. Because of Soviet occupation. While others were celebrating the fall of Hitler's monstrous regime, and engaging in the creation of a new world order, Lithuania’s future was being hijacked by Stalin's totalitarian grip.

During Stalin’s rule, up to 300 000 Lithuanians were deported, exiled, and locked in Soviet gulags in in the most remote parts of Siberia, the Arctic Circle, and Central Asia. Farmers, teachers, public servants, housewives, entire families were rounded up, barely given time to collect their belongings, and hoarded onto cattle wagons.  Many died of starvation and diseases along the way. Most were never to see Lithuania again. 

My people were not the only ones affected. At least some 14 million people from various nationalities were sent to Soviet gulags from 1929 to 1953, with a further 7 to 8 million deported and exiled to the most remote areas of the Soviet empire. Induced famine and starvation, including the Holodomor in Ukraine, were used to subdue those Stalin’s regime considered its enemies.

While we pay our tribute and respect to sacrifice of the allied forces who defeated Hitler, we also remember all those whose lives were taken by all the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century.   

Five decades later, Lithuania broke free from captivity. The singing revolutions of the Baltic states, as they were known at the time, put an end to Soviet occupation and restored the right of our nations to decide our future on our own, without external interference or dictate.  

Next month, Lithuania will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the restoration of independence. The longest we have ever been free in the modern times.  In the context of Russia's attempts to rewrite history and reverse the transitions of the 1990s, this 25th anniversary is even more precious. It also reminds us that the international community should not lower its guard. 

The United Nations came into existence in order "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", and "to ensure, by acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed fore shall not be used, save in the common interest".

What we are seeing in Europe today, however, is Russia’s military might being used in violation of the sovereign rights of states, and in pursuit of a neo-imperial ambition which has no place in the 21st century.

Mr. President,

To small countries in particular, respect for the Charter provisions and international legal norms is paramount.  We don’t have the tanks, the grads, the tornados, the multiple rocket launchers and the heavy weaponry the likes of which are ravaging the eastern part of Ukraine.  Respect for the international law and the principles and norms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations is our first line of defense.

It is therefore particularly disturbing to see these norms and principles, and the Charter itself being violated by a permanent member of the Security Council. The exclusive status of the P5 was granted so that they should acts as the custodians of the higher interest of peace, that common interest, of which the Charter speaks so clearly. Not for Russia to pressure or wage wars against its neighbors.

70 years after the end of World War II, Russia, who had suffered tremendously from that war, should know better than to risk international peace and stability for the sake of redrawing Europe’s borders by violence and force.

From eastern Ukraine to Moldova’s Transnistria, to Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions, a pattern exists of Russia’s interference in the sovereign affairs of neighboring states. For a year now, Ukraine has been under attack by Russian commandos and mercenaries, supported by Russia’s tanks, heavy weaponry, equipment, and supplies.

A year ago, as Crimea was being annexed by force and falsehood, Lithuania called for the first Council meeting on Ukraine. The Council has since held sat least thirty meetings on the situation in Ukraine. But nothing has changed on the ground.

Even as we speak, Russian proxies continue to rubbish the latest ceasefire agreement, continuing their attacks in blatant violation of the Minsk agreements and UNSC resolution 2202.Russian arms and Russian "humanitarian" convoys continue to flow across the borders into the militants’ hands. The geography of violent provocations is expanding far beyond the ceasefire line, as seen from yesterday's bomb attack in Kharkiv.

Thousands are dead and millions displaced as Russia continues to stoke incitement and hate against the Ukrainian people whose only fault is their desire to choose a European path of development.

The Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian rhetoric could not be more toxic. Only because the Ukrainians want a clear break with the corruption and cronyism of the past, they were branded as fascists. The peaceful protests of Maidan, whose anniversary was marked this past weekend, - as an extremist coup.      

Let us be clear. The desire of a nation to decide its own future is not fascism. The will of a nation to embrace democracy, good governance, and combat corruption is not fascism. The acceptance of European values and the intent to pursue the path of Euro-Atlantic integration is not fascism.

Kremlin’s propagandist manipulations of the “fascist” card are reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous. They are also cynical, given its support and financing of the extreme, radical fringe groups across Europe, and efforts to whitewash the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

Mr. President,

As we approach the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, all states without exception must recommit, unequivocally and clearly, to the values enshrined in the Charter and to the norms and principles of the international law. Anything less – and especially attempts to redraw  today’s international borders - would be  to betray the memory of those who brought us the peace, 70 years ago, at the cost of their lives, - and to betray our future as humanity.

As President Truman said in his address to the San Francisco conference 70 years ago, “We must not continue to sacrifice the flower of our youth merely to check madmen, those who in every age plan world domination. The sacrifices of our youth today must lead, through your efforts, to the building for tomorrow of a mighty combination of nations founded upon justice--on peace.”

I thank you.