10 April 2014
MEDIA RELEASE
Ukrainian World Congress calls for substantial UN peacekeeping and OSCE observer missions as tensions escalate in Ukraine
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) condemns Russia’s latest provocations in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, particularly in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, and calls upon the international community to immediately deploy substantial UN peacekeeping and OSCE observer missions to the affected regions.
Following Russia’s invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea, the international community expressed overwhelming support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, condemning the forceful occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol as a violation of international law, including the UN Charter.
The UWC has reminded the international community of its obligation to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty in the wake of Russia’s provocations designed to undermine Ukraine’s new government and create false perceptions of hostile divisions within the Ukrainian population in order to proceed with a full-blown military invasion of Ukraine.
The UWC President further emphasized that, if not firmly challenged, Russia’s illegal acts of aggression against Ukraine may result in similar actions in different regions by authoritarian regimes emboldened by the belief that there will be no substantive consequences for their intolerable behavior.
“The Ukrainian World Congress urges the international community, specifically the UN and the OSCE, to act decisively in the interests of preventing a full-blown military confrontation in Ukraine by immediately deploying UN peacekeeping troops and sending additional OSCE observers to Eastern and Southern Ukraine,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
