A violation of UN Charter: Antònio Guterres
Washington/New York/Moscow/Brussels/Beijing: A ceremony for signing the treaties on the accession of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Zaporizhzhia region and the Kherson region to the Russian Federation took place in the Grand Kremlin Palace’s St George Hall in Moscow today. Addressing the gathering, President Vladimir Putin of Russia made it loud and clear: “I want the Kyiv authorities and their true handlers in the West to hear me now, and I want everyone to remember this: the people living in Lugansk and Donetsk, in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have become our citizens, forever.”
Putin said that for eight long years, people in Donbass were subjected to genocide, shelling and blockades; in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, a “criminal policy” was pursued to cultivate hatred for Russia, for everything Russian. He claimed that now too, during the referendums, the Kyiv regime threatened schoolteachers and women who worked in election commissions with reprisals and death. “Kyiv threatened millions of people who came to express their will with repression. But the people of Donbass, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson weren’t broken, and they had their say,” he said.
The President of Russia called on the Kyiv regime to immediately cease fire all hostilities and end the war “it unleashed back in 2014” and return to the negotiating table. “We are ready for this, as we have said more than once,” he said but made it clear that the choice of the people in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson will not be discussed. “The decision has been made, and Russia will not betray it. Kyiv’s current authorities should respect this free expression of the people’s will; there is no other way. This is the only way to peace,” he said. He declared that Russia will defend its land with all the forces and resources it has and will do everything to ensure the safety of its people. “This is the great liberating mission of our nation,” he said. He vowed to rebuild the destroyed cities and towns, the residential buildings, schools, hospitals, theatres and museums. “We will restore and develop industrial enterprises, factories, infrastructure, as well as the social security, pension, healthcare and education systems,” he added.
However, taking a strong view of today’s development in Moscow, the United States today stated that it unequivocally rejects Russia’s “fraudulent” attempt to change Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, including by holding sham “referenda” in Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today discussed their shared concern over what they termed Russia’s illegitimate attempts to purportedly annex Ukrainian territory via sham referenda. They expressed their “firm” commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Stoltenberg stated in Brussels that this was the largest “attempted” annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War. “Another 15 per cent of Ukraine’s territory. An area roughly the size of Portugal. Illegally seized by Russia at gunpoint,” he said.
Antony J. Blinken, US Secretary of State, said in Washington: “This is a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. In response, the United States and our allies and partners are imposing swift and severe costs targeting additional Russian government officials, their family members, Russian and Belarusian military officials, and defence procurement networks, including international suppliers supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex.”
The US said it was issuing a clear warning supported by G7 Leaders: “We will hold to account any individual, entity, or country that provides political or economic support for Russia’s illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory. In support of this commitment, the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce are releasing new guidance on heightened sanctions and export control risks for entities and individuals inside or outside Russia that support Russia’s sham referenda, purported annexation, and occupation of part of Ukraine,” Blinken said.
The Department of State imposed visa restrictions on 910 individuals, including members of the Russian Federation military, Belarusian military officials, and Russia’s proxies for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence. The Department also designated Russian national, Ochur-Suge Mongush, for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights perpetrated against a Ukrainian prisoner of war. Under this authority, Mongush and his immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.
Additionally, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 109 additional State Duma members, 169 members of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and more members of Russia’s government including Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina, the Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) and a former advisor to Putin; Olga Nikolaevna Skorobogatova, the First Deputy Governor of the CBR; and Aleksandr Valentinovich Novak, a Deputy Prime Minister. OFAC is also designating family members of Russia’s National Security Council, such as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin’s wife and two adult children, Minister of Defense Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu’s wife and adult children and National Guard Head Viktor Vasilievich Zolotov’s wife and adult children, along with the immediate family members of Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Security Council Dmitry Anatolievich Medvedev, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko, and Saint Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Dmitrievich Beglov.
Blinken further announced that the Department of State was joining Treasury in targeting family members of Russia’s National Security Council by designating Olga Sergeevna Sobyanina and Anna Sergeevna Ershova pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024 for being the adult children of Moscow mayor and Russian Security Council member Sergey Sobyanin, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked under E.O. 14024.
“In furtherance of our commitment to cut off Russia’s access to technology critical to its military, OFAC is designating 14 persons, including international suppliers, who have supported Russia’s defence sector. The sanctions that we and our allies and partners imposed have devastated Russia’s ability to access critical components and technology and forced Russia’s defence-industrial base to resort to third-country intermediaries and suppliers. This action sends a clear message that international suppliers of sanctioned Russian entities and Russia’s defence sector run the risk of being sanctioned,” Blinken stated.
Finally, the Department of Commerce issued a rule that adds 57 entities located in Russia and the Crimea region of Ukraine to the Entity List—bringing the total to 392. “We will continue the United States’ powerful, coordinated efforts to hold Russia to account, cut Russia’s military off from global commerce and severely limit its ability to sustain its aggression and project power,” Blinken said.
Earlier in New York, the United Nations Secretary-General Antònio Guterres invoked the UN Charter and said any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter and international law. “In this moment of peril, I must underscore my duty as Secretary-General to uphold the Charter of the United Nations,” he stated and claimed that the United Nations General Assembly “is equally clear”. He pointed out that in its landmark Friendly Relations Declaration of 24 October 1970 —repeatedly cited as stating rules of general international law by the International Court of Justice — the General Assembly declared that “the territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition by another State resulting from the threat or use of force” and that “no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal”.
He said: “And I must be clear. The Russian Federation, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, shares a particular responsibility to respect the Charter. Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned. It cannot be reconciled with the international legal framework. It stands against everything the international community is meant to stand for. It flouts the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. It is a dangerous escalation. It has no place in the modern world. It must not be accepted.”
Guterres said that the position of the United Nations is unequivocal: “we are fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.”
Incidentally, only yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had stressed in Moscow that the referendums in the DPR, LPR, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions had been held in full accordance with the norms and principles of international law (no matter how strongly anyone might dislike this); they were fully legal and did not run counter to world practice.
Meanwhile, China today volunteered to work with members of the international community to continue to play a constructive part in de-escalation efforts. “China’s position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We believe that all countries deserve respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed, that the legitimate security concerns of any country should be taken seriously, and that support should be given to all efforts that are conducive to peacefully resolving the crisis,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing today.
– global bihari bureau
