Lithuania signed a joint statement Russia’s annexation of Crimea after it held “an informal meeting at the UN to promote a false narrative about its occupation” of the peninsula.
“We condemn Russia’s human rights abuses and military build-up on the peninsula. We strongly reject Russia’s attempted annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” the statement reads.
The statement was signed by Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States
“Today’s event distorted the realities on the ground in Crimea and only served the interests of Russia’s occupation. If Russia is truly interested in increasing understanding on the situation in Crimea, it would allow UN, OSCE, and Council of Europe envoys, as well as humanitarian workers, international human rights monitoring missions, and human rights non-governmental organisations, immediate and unimpeded access to Crimea.”
Russia occupied and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 after a pro-European revolution in Kyiv.
Read more: Will post-corona Russia be forced to return Crimea? – opinion
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