Russia supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine subject to its non-aligned status, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following the 78th session of the UN General embly.
According to Lavrov, Moscow recognized Ukraine’s sovereignty back in 1991 on the basis of its declaration of independence upon secession from the Soviet Union. The declaration contained “a lot of good things,” including respect for the rights of national minorities, with direct mention of the Russian language.
“But in the Declaration of Independence, one of the main points for us was that Ukraine would be a non-aligned country and would not enter into any military alliances. In that wording, under those conditions, we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Lavrov said (quoted from RIA Novosti).
In this context, the minister mentioned the Declaration of Principles on Relations between Sovereign States on the basis of the UN Charter, which states that states are obliged to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of those countries “whose governments respect the principle of self-determination of peoples and therefore represent the entire population living in a given territory “
Previously, Moscow has repeatedly called Ukraine’s entry into NATO unacceptable for itself because of the threat to Russia’s security. The country’s President Vladimir Putin also spoke about the principled position of Russia on this issue. Ukraine, back in September 2022, submitted an application to join NATO on an accelerated basis.
Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the parties held negotiations several times in February and March 2022. As a result, the negotiation process was frozen because Kyiv withdrew from it. October 4, 2022 Ukraine has a decree refusing to negotiate with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin is its president.