SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
RESOLUTION
ON THE AGGRESSION OF RUSSIA AND BELARUS AGAINST UKRAINE
24 February 2022 No XIV-930
Vilnius
relying on the obligations of all States under the Charter of the United Nations (hereinafter: the ‘Charter’) to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, and to settle their international disputes by peaceful means,
recalling the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, signed in Helsinki on 1 August 1975, the Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Budapest Memorandum) of 5 December 1994, the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation of 31 May 1997, and other international agreements,
recalling that eight years ago, the Russian Federation violated the these treaties and obligations assumed thereunder and carried out the occupation and annexation of part of the territory of Ukraine, namely, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, through the use of military force,
having regard to the fact that this act of aggression was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly on 27 March 2014 under Resolution 68/262, which expressed support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and the integrity of its territory and affirmed the commitment of the United Nations to recognising Crimea as part of the territory of Ukraine,
noting that, while ignoring the legitimate expectations of Ukraine and the international community concerning the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the Russian Federation has not only continued its occupation and annexation of Crimea, but has also carried out acts of destabilisation in the east of Ukraine,
stressing that the Russian Federation has once again flagrantly violated international law and international agreements, including the Minsk agreements, by the signing by the President of the Russian Federation, on 21 February 2022, of decrees recognising the territories controlled by the armed groups created by Russia in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk,
having regard to the unprecedented amassing of the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the borders of Ukraine and the open military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and its people, which began on 24 February 2022,
pointing out that Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is being carried out with the aim of seizing control of this state and overthrowing the legitimately elected Ukrainian government,
considering these actions of the Russian Federation as part of the Russian Federation’s policy pursued since 2008 and targeting its neighbouring countries that have chosen the path of freedom, democracy and rapprochement with the EU or NATO,
noting that the Russian Federation has already carried out the occupation of part of the territories of Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine and is currently carrying out the further occupation of Ukraine and the creeping annexation of Belarus,
pointing out the active involvement of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in the Russian Federation’s strategy of aggression against Ukraine and the amassing of Russian troops on the territory of Belarus,
being convinced that the actions of the Russian Federation have a significant negative impact not only on the security of the EU and NATO, in particular, of its eastern members; but also on the security of Europe as a whole,
standing against the attempts to return Europe to the days of sharing spheres of influence,
considering that the international community must take decisive action to defend the democratic world order in response to the attack undertaken against it by the Russian Federation and Belarus and that the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (hereinafter: the ‘US’) have a particular responsibility for Europe’s security, including the future of Ukraine,
appreciating the long-standing contribution of the US to strengthening European security,
committing to urgently reinforce in Lithuania, before the end of this year, the host country’s capacity, to create the necessary infrastructure which would enable the rapid and smooth deployment of Allied forces and their operation on the territory of the country,
condemns the military aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation and Belarus and the attempt to overthrow the legitimately elected Ukrainian government;
expresses its strong support for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of Ukraine and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders;
calls on the parliaments of its allies, the EU Member States and NATO member countries:
– to immediately grant to Ukraine the status of EU candidate country and provide Ukraine with a NATO Membership Action Plan;
– to provide all possible bilateral military, economic, political, humanitarian and legal support to Ukraine;
– to urgently initiate a resolution of the United Nations Security Council urging the Russian Federation and Belarus to immediately cease their aggression against Ukraine, as well as to urgently appeal to Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres to expel the Russian Federation from its permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, the main body of the United Nations responsible for maintaining international peace and security;
– to immediately terminate the Russian Federation's membership of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe, and to exclude the Russian Federation from all international sports and cultural organisations;
– to impose tough new personal and sectoral sanctions on all key usurpers of power in the Russian Federation and Belarus, including Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, their aids, supporters, and major state-owned enterprises and banks, as well as secondary sanctions on those enterprises and banks of the EU Member States and NATO member countries that are cooperating with Russian enterprises and banks subject to sanctions;
– to restrict, to the maximum extent possible, the access of the Russian and Belarusian regimes and their supporters to the financial resources of the EU Member States and NATO member countries, by disconnecting Russia from the system of international interbank financial settlements (SWIFT) during the period of aggression against Ukraine;
– to accelerate, to the maximum extent possible, the formation of Europe's strategic energy independence by ending its dependence on Russian fossil fuels; to halt the geopolitical Nord Stream 2 and Ostrovets nuclear power plant projects;
– to continue and expand the ban on the transfer of any strategically important technology to Russia and Belarus;
– to continue this policy until the full withdrawal of troops of the Russian Federation from the sovereign territories of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus and the holding of transparent and fair elections will be held in Russia and Belarus in line with international standards;
calls on the European Union to significantly strengthen and renew its support for Russia's democratic civil society, as its continued existence is the hope for lasting peace and stability in Europe;
appeals to the societies of the Russian Federation and Belarus to influence the leaders of their countries and to oppose their aggression against Ukraine;
calls on the EU Member States and the European Council to take international leadership by bringing together all states of the democratic world to provide support to Ukraine and to strive for the widest possible accession of the world to sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian regimes;
calls for strengthening the resilience of the societies of the EU Member States and NATO member countries to hybrid threats from hostile countries and their special services.