On December 1, the ninth round of informal consultations between Ukraine and the EU on the legal consequences of the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol took place in Brussels, Belgium. Negotiations took place at the level of senior officials of ministries and departments of Ukraine and the European External Action Service and the European Commission.
This was reported by UA with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The parties discussed the full range of issues related to the temporary occupation of Crimea.
“In particular, the aggravation of the security situation in Crimea and the Black Sea region, the European policy of non-recognition and EU sanctions against Crimea, the development of the Crimean Platform and Ukraine’s efforts to deoccupy the Crimean peninsula, the situation with violations of international humanitarian law. peninsula” – it is told in the message.
Emine Japarova informed the European side in detail about Russia’s aggressive actions and its strategy of putting pressure on Ukraine. She asked to mobilize the support of our state and to concentrate efforts on deterring Russia from escalating the situation.
The parties separately discussed developments in the security sphere, including the ongoing militarization of the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The participants condemned the purposeful activities of the Russian Federation to hinder free navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, which creates additional tension and destabilizes the situation in Ukrainian seaports.
The First Deputy Foreign Minister stressed that the Ukrainian side will not continue to ignore such violations.
“The EU Delegation welcomed the successful holding of the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform on 23 August 2021, which has become an important tool for cooperation between international partners on the deoccupation of Crimea. The main thing was the nomination by the EU of representatives to the network of constant and rapid communication between the representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the Crimean Platform” – the Foreign Ministry added.
Emine Japarova announced preparations for an international ministerial event in early 2022 within the framework of the Crimean Platform – the Black Sea Security Conference. She noted that Ukraine has developed concepts for further activities of the Crimean Platform in 5 priority areas.
The EU side is ready to intensify financial support for the regions of Ukraine close to the temporarily occupied Crimea, in particular the Azov region.
By the way, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Belarus’s recognition of Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea would be a blow to Ukrainian-Belarusian relations.
Read also: We fight for the Crimea not on billboards, but on all international platforms – Volodymyr Zelenskyy