SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
RESOLUTION
ON SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE IN THE FACE OF AGGRESSION BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
2018 December 10 No XIII-1702
Vilnius
emphasising that, on 25 November 2018, Russia committed an act of military aggression when the Ukrainian naval vessels on their way from Odessa to Ukraine’s ports in the Sea of Azov were rammed and not allowed to pass through the Kerch Strait, despite having informed the authorities of the Russian Federation in advance of their route; after these vessels turned around and were moving back to the seaport of Odessa, the vessels of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the border guard service and the air force fired on and seized them in the neutral waters of the Black Sea; during this attack, six Ukrainian crew members were injured, 24 crew members were unlawfully detained, interrogated and imprisoned in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia, as well as in the Russian Federation;
stressing that the Russian Federation has, for some time, been carrying out the militarisation of the Sea of Azov and Crimea, which belongs to Ukraine, but was illegally annexed, and conducts, on an arbitrary basis, unlawful enhanced inspections of military and civilian cargo vessels seeking to reach Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait, or does not allow them to pass through;
noting the signs raising deep concern that it may be sought to refurbish the nuclear weapon storage infrastructure in Russia’s illegally annexed Crimea, which means that preparations might be under way for the deployment of the nuclear weapon in the illegally annexed territory of Ukraine;
reiterating that Lithuania strongly and consistently supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity along the internationally recognised borders as well as the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine and will never recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia;
recalling the shooting down of passenger jet MH17, the use of the nerve agent Novichok on the territory of the NATO member country, the on-going information and cyber attacks waged from the Russian Federation against NATO member countries and European Union (EU) member states and the attempts to influence democratic elections,
strongly condemns the military aggression perpetrated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the aggressive unilateral actions which gravely violate bilateral and multilateral agreements and norms of international law, threaten a wider region and security in Europe and demands to put an immediate end to these actions;
considers that the attack carried out on 25 November 2018 by the Russian Federation against the Ukrainian naval vessels and their crew and the blockade of the Kerch Strait is an act of military aggression according to the definition of aggression stipulated in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 of 14 December 1974 and a grave violation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine and of fundamental principles of international law;
notes that the Russian Federation continues to deliberately pursue a destructive and aggressive line of action against Ukraine, the EU and NATO and their member states and against the Kremlin’s critics and that by committing the Kerch military attack Russia has crossed the ‘red line’;
calls for a major shift in the Western strategy for containing Russia’s aggression from responding to Russia’s attacks and violations of international norms and human rights to naming the specific actions that Russia should take and, if Russia fails to take them, imposing much more effective and wider sanctions;
notes that demands to Russia must include:
2) transfer of the territories of Ukraine occupied and controlled by Russia to the United Nations peacekeeping mission;
3) release of all detained and imprisoned citizens of Ukraine who are political prisoners and prisoners of war,
and if Russia fails to comply with these demands in the near future or vetoes these decisions, comprehensive sanctions targeting, among others, the Russian gas, oil and financial sectors, including its removal from the SWIFT system, must be imposed without delay;
supports the enhancement of NATO’s presence in the Black Sea;
urges EU member states and NATO member countries to continue and strengthen sanctions against Russia and to widen and strengthen cooperation with Ukraine by strengthening its defence capabilities, assisting it in implementing reforms and ensuring that Ukraine is adequately prepared to commence EU accession negotiations by 2027;
addresses EU member states and NATO member countries, as well as the United Nations Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe and their parliamentary assemblies with a call to take every measure for Russia to put an end to the aggression against Ukraine and the integrity of its territory and the militarisation of the illegally annexed Crimea and of the Sea of Azov, to comply with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to start implementing the Minsk agreements and, in response to the incident of 25 November 2018, to introduce additional sanctions against those responsible for this act of aggression as well as effective sectoral sanctions to stop the de facto annexation of the Sea of Azov by Russia.