The UK shares Ukraine's position on Crimea and will continue to remind the world that Crimea is Ukraine - and will always be Ukraine. London will lead the “resolve of the international community” in supporting Kyiv to “return the peninsula” to Ukraine.
British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons stated this at the Founding Forum of the Expert Network of the Crimean Platform, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The UK remains a committed partner to Ukraine, resolutely defending its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Russia's actions in 2014 cannot be justified. Russia forcibly seized the territory of sovereign Ukraine, grossly violating the rights of Ukrainians, as well as a number of its international obligations. Our position is clear: we do not recognize, we will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. It is now necessary to continue to apply international pressure on Russia for its actions in 2014 and for what has happened in Crimea since then.
The illegal annexation of Crimea posed significant challenges to Ukraine and to the overall Euro-Atlantic security system. The international community must continue to confront these challenges. We must show Russia that we will not tolerate its blatant disrespect for the international order. We need to make sure that Russia is held accountable for the terrible human rights violations and environmental destruction on the peninsula.
The rights of Crimean residents must be protected. We must always remind the world that Crimea is Ukraine – and will always be Ukraine. This is why the UK welcomes Ukraine’s efforts regarding the International Crimea Platform initiative. This platform was created to unite and strengthen international efforts in countering Russian aggression and restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” she said.
The Ambassador added that she was looking forward to the opening of the platform and assured that the UK would maintain close contact with Ukraine in its future activities.
“The international community relies on professional analysis and advice to fully understand the situation on the peninsula and determine how to maintain pressure on Russia. Without expertise, our knowledge base, our policies, will be significantly weaker.
In particular, thanks to information and individual testimonies about human rights violations in Crimea provided by UK civil society organizations and international allies, they can hold Russia accountable for violations of the rights of treatment of political prisoners. This allows us to raise specific issues of human rights violations and discuss them in international organizations such as the UN or OSCE,” she said.
She also emphasized that there will be no normalization of relations with Russia as long as it “continues to destabilize Ukraine and seize its territory.”
“Ukraine continues to pay a high price for its courage. For daring to exercise her sovereign right - to turn her face to the West. Russia must respect the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. A return to normal relations is impossible as long as Russia continues to destabilize Ukraine and seize its territory.
The UK will continue to work with you. We will try to strengthen the resolve of the international community and make efforts to ensure that the issue of Crimea remains in constant focus. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine to remind the world that Crimea is Ukraine,” said Melinda Simmons.
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