We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.
Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations prohibits “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” There are only two exceptions expressly included in the Charter: individual or collective self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter if an armed attack occurs, or authorization by the United Nations Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter. Neither of these exceptions applies to the current situation. In particular, the Russian Federation has no right of individual self-defense against Ukraine.
The right to self-determination is no legal basis for the creation of the Ukrainian territories Donetsk and Luhansk as “states”. Therefore, their recognition by the Russian Federation is a flagrant violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and as such without legal effect. Since these territories are not states, the Russian Federation cannot invoke collective self-defense on behalf of these territories in order to justify its attack on Ukraine. In the same vein, the Russian Federation cannot rely on the alleged “consent” of these entities to justify any intervention in the territory of Ukraine for any purpose. […]
We call on all U.N. Member States to fulfill their obligations in relation to the Russian Federation’s violation of the prohibition on aggression, which is a peremptory norm of international law (jus cogens). It endures regardless of violations. Accordingly, states must cooperate to bring this aggression to an end through lawful means; they must not recognize as lawful any situation it creates; nor may they render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation.
Last, we remind third-party states, including the Republic of Belarus, that the action of a state in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another state, to be used by that other state for perpetrating an act of aggression, might be an act of aggression in and of itself. Läs uttalandet