I have the honour to deliver this joint statement on behalf of the 27 EU Member States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, Australia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Canada.

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 and 75/192), 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 reiterate that we do not recognize the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and will continue to condemn this violation of international law.

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.