3. Statement by the President

Verbatim reports

The President made a statement vehemently condemning the aggression carried out against Ukrainian ships by the Russian navy in the Sea of Azov, expressing his deep concern at the deterioration of the situation in the region (including the arrest of 23 Ukrainian military personnel) and reaffirming that Ukraine's territorial integrity was a fundamental principle.

The President called on the Russian authorities to act in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2003 cooperation agreement with Ukraine and to set free the Ukrainian military personnel who had been detained. He stressed Parliament's commitment to a peaceful solution to the issue, as had been proposed in the course of his meeting of the previous day with Andrij Parubij, President of the Ukrainian Parliament, and recalled Parliament's resolution on the 'Situation in the Sea of Azov', which was adopted on 25 October 2018 (minutes of 25.10.2018, item 13.19).