Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Nations, drew attention to the fact that despite the ceasefire agreement the separatists supported by Russia continue arming, regrouping and have already seized 550 square kilometres more of the territory of Ukraine.
The Representative of Lithuania underlined that the crisis in Eastern Ukraine is not a civil war - but a calculated and systematic attempt to destabilize Ukraine, a foreign-sponsored war. "While every defensive move by Ukraine is blasted by the Russian propaganda as ceasefire violations, Russia has never even once condemned or disowned the illegal and lawless separatist militants. Russia's intentions to rewrite the Minsk agreements in a way that would legitimise and accept the territorial gains achieved by the militants speaks to Kremlin's wholehearted support for those criminals", the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Nations said.
Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė stressed that Lithuania has rejected every urge to review the ceasefire agreements. "The agreed parameters of the ceasefire already exist and must be respected. We urge all sides, in particular Russia, to engage and fully implement Minsk agreements in their entirety and without any further delay", the Lithuanian diplomat said at the United Nations.
"If Russia is genuinely interested in putting an end to the devastating violence and deaths in eastern Ukraine, including the deaths of its own nameless soldiers sent to wage a war against a brotherly nation, it must stop destabilising Ukraine, stop military supplies to its proxies, the illegal separatist groups, and withdraw all military equipment. The Ukrainian - Russian state border must be secured. Continuous monitoring by the OSCE must be ensured", underlined Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaitė. According to the Lithuania's Representative, it is also necessary that the observers from the international organisations – the United Nations and the OSCE – should be able to monitor the situation in the whole territory of Ukraine, including the Crimea, without being impeded.
Jeffrey Feltman, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, who spoke at the meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations, drew attention to the fact that today the situation in Eastern Ukraine is the worst since the beginning of the ceasefire agreements and the truce exists only in words. The UN representative expressed hope that a solution to the situation in Ukraine would be found at the "Normandy format" meeting and underlined the need to implement the Minsk Agreements.
