Volodymyr Groysman: Civilized world should maintain a responsible attitude to assess the challenges of violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state and international law

The civilized world should be united and maintain a responsible attitude to assess the security challenges and violation of international law, Ukraine is facing today. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman stated this during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday, 16 June.

"Today, in the 21st century, Ukraine is experiencing unprecedented aggression from the Russian Federation. Russia annexed part of our territory – Crimea and invaded on the territory of Ukraine - Ukrainian Donbas. In times like this, it is very important for the civilized world to maintain a responsible attitude to the challenges in our society," he pointed out.

The Prime Minister stressed that we viewed the sanctions against Russia as "punishment for invading a sovereign state in the 21st century."

Answering the question about the existence of any grounds for the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the Prime Minister underlined that Crimea is Ukraine. "No poll can be a ground for changing the borders of a sovereign country in the 21st century. This is extremely important," he highlighted. Volodymyr Groysman also noted that any so-called social polls cannot "in any way affect the territorial integrity" of the Ukrainian state.

The Head of Government noted that Ukraine has always been a peace-loving country and didn’t violate the borders of other states.

Answering the question about "$ 3 million debt of Viktor Yanukovych", Volodymyr Groysman pointed out this issue should be resolved in a legal way. According to him, now appropriate legal procedures are being developed and they must determine the further cooperation between the two countries, particularly on the issue.

"I think that, in reality, Russia has huge debts to Ukraine. In particular, I deem that they could be somehow decreased by the de-occupation of Crimea and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territories of [eastern Ukraine]. I think it would be a good basis for further settlement of the financial debts," Volodymyr Groysman emphasized.