On February 23, 2021, for the third consecutive year, the UN General Assembly held a debate on the Ukraine-initiated agenda item "Situation in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine".

Opening the debate, the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir expressed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and stressed the responsibility to refrain from the threat of use of force against any state.

In their statements, the vast majority of the UN Member States condemned Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea, its violations of the Budapest Memorandum and the international law, called on the Russian side to abide by the Minsk Agreements.

Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya informed about the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine for the humanitarian, economic and environmental situation in the temporarily occupied territories.

He paid special attention to gross human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea and parts of Donbas.

Sergiy Kyslytsya presented the tasks and goals of the Crimean Platform initiative to coordinate international efforts and measures to de-occupy the Ukrainian peninsula.

The debate proved the solidarity of the international community with Ukraine against Russia’s aggression.

Ukraine will continue keeping Russia's illegal actions on the active UN agenda to restore peace on Ukrainian soil and bring Russia to justice.

We are grateful to all the states, who expressed their support of Ukraine during the debate.

The full text of Sergiy Kyslytsya’s speech is available at https://ukraineun.org/en/press-center/466-statement-by-the-delegation-of-ukraine-at-the-un-general-assembly-debate-on-agenda-item-situation-in-the-temporarily-occupied-territories-of-ukraine-23-february-2021/).