I have the honour to deliver this joint statement on behalf of the 27 EU Member States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. We are reacting to the statement on behalf of the Russian Federation delivered by a representative of the administration in illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

We would like to recall the relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions (68/262, 71/205,72/190, 73/263, 74/168, 75/192 and 76/179), which define the status of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as an integral part of Ukraine.

We reaffirm our commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters. We condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter and other fundamental principles of international law. We condemn and do not recognize the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation.

We therefore urge the Russian Federation to refrain from letting any representative of the administration in this illegally annexed territory intervene on its behalf within the Human Rights Council, as well as in any other international fora.

Thank you.