On Thursday, 17 October, in anticipation of the Third Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Riga, the Saeima adopted a statement on support for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression. 

The Crimean Platform is an important tool for promoting international cooperation to counter Russia’s aggression as a global threat and to ensure the continuity of the non-recognition policy towards its illegally annexed territories of Ukraine, underlines the Statement. 

In order to strengthen support to Ukraine in the fight for freedom, democracy and territorial integrity of the country within its internationally recognised borders, the Saeima undertakes to actively participate in the implementation of the objectives of the International Crimea Platform, promoting the widest possible international representation. 

The Saeima calls on all states to reach a clear agreement and implement further practical measures to establish a compensation mechanism in line with the action plan included in the Reykjavik Declaration, which would complement the already functioning register of damages caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine and ensure the actual payment of compensation. Parliamentarians also call on states to ensure the confiscation and transfer to Ukraine of frozen Russian assets in response to aggression, in line with the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 

Parliament expresses its support for the objectives set out in the Ukraine Peace Initiative to stop Russian aggression and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine, in accordance with international law and the principle of Ukraine’s territorial unity. 

In the statement, MPs call on the international community to recognise the crimes committed by the Soviet authorities against the Ukrainian people and the Crimean Tatars as genocide, as well as to join the declared objectives of the International Crimea Platform and the Ukrainian Peace Initiative. Parliamentarians also call for stepping up all forms of support for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression and in the fight for de-occupation, in order to restore and strengthen security and stability in Ukraine and the region as a whole. 

MPs advocate for the establishment of aspecial tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine that would be legitimate, enjoy broad cross-regional support and thus ensure accountability of senior Russian officials. The Saeima also advocates strengthening sanctions against Russia and Belarus, further introducing well-targeted and effective restrictive measures, as well as vigorous and active action against the circumvention of sanctions. Countries that allow sanctions to be evaded through their passive actions are co-responsible for Russia’s aggression, bloodshed and the destruction of Ukraine, parliamentarians point out in the Statement. 

MPs call on allies to equip Ukraine with weapons, including medium and long-range missiles, and to allow their use as and where Ukraine deems necessary for self-defence, including without restrictions against legitimate military targets on Russian territory. 

In its Statement, the Saeima reaffirms Latvia’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Members stress that the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied and illegally annexed by Russia – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as parts of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions – belong to the sovereign and territorially indivisible state of Ukraine. The Statement also underlines that the de-occupation of the Crimean peninsula is an integral part of the process of ending the war and ensuring peace. 

Parliamentarians support Ukraine’s strategic goal of joining NATO and the European Union and its efforts to continue the necessary reforms to prepare for possible future membership of these organisations. Latvia also supports Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and NATO as soon as possible, as noted in the Statement. 

The Statement calls on the Ukrainian allies to support the position that Russia’s aggressive policy is to be halted and peace in Ukraine and in the region can only be achieved with Russia’s defeat.