- 3 - A/130/2-P.4 ANNEX II Original: English

RUSSIAN FEDERATION AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

Explanatory memorandum submitted by the delegation of Ukraine The Parliamentary Group of Ukraine to the Inter-Parliamentary Union requests the inclusion of an emergency item entitled Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine on the agenda of the 130th IPU Assembly. The grounds for this request are set out below. On 27 February 2014, the Russian Federation committed an act of aggression against Ukraine by deploying troops on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The deployment of military forces and equipment of the Russian Army, involving troops from the Russian Black Sea Fleet provisionally stationed on the territory of Ukraine and from the territory of the Russian Federation, is a major violation of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, the Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the Stay of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in the Territory of Ukraine, and of international legal instruments enshrining the principles of territorial integrity and the inviolability of national borders. In response to calls by former President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country, and the self-proclaimed "prime minister" of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, on 1 March 2014 the Council of the Federation of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly endorsed President Putin’s address on the use of Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine. However, under Ukrainian legislation, only the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine may, if needed, appeal to other States for the deployment of foreign troops. The Russian Federation accuses Ukraine of numerous violations of the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens and uses this to indirectly justify the aggression. However, to date there have been no confirmed cases of violations of the rights of Russian Federation citizens in the territory of Ukraine, including in Crimea. In addition, on 6 March 2014 Ms. Astrid Thors, the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), stated that she had found no evidence of violations of or threats to the human rights of Russian and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine during her mission to Crimea. Moreover, Ukraine agrees with the High Commissioner that it is the actions of the Autonomous Republic’s self-proclaimed authorities, including their illegal decisions to become part of the Russian Federation and to hold the so-called "all-Crimean referendum”, that have greatly exacerbated interethnic tensions. Citizens of Ukrainian ethnic origin and Crimean Tatars in particular are in danger. After Russian military forces were deployed in the territory of the Autonomous Republic, including its central city of Simferopol, the local Supreme Council decided on 6 March 2014 to join the Russian Federation as a constituent entity and to hold the "all-Crimean referendum” on 16 March 2014. Ukraine does not recognize these decisions and considers that they are in breach of the Ukrainian Constitution and therefore unlawful. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly protested the statement made on 11 March 2014 by the Russian Foreign Ministry recognizing the legitimacy of the "Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol City” adopted by the Supreme Council of Crimea. The “Declaration” is yet another unconstitutional act and legally null and void because it violates Ukrainian national legislation and the provisions of many international instruments ratified by United Nations Member States, including the Russian Federation. The Russian troops currently in Crimea are forming, arming and controlling local paramilitary forces. The situation is characterized by an unprecedented number of flagrant violations of human rights and by disregard for Ukrainian legislation and international law.

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