For the fourth consecutive year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has been drawing attention of the international community to the anniversary of adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) "Definition of aggression". This document has enshrined the principles of international law, recognized by the international community, that prohibit aggression in all its manifestations. The use by the Russian Federation of its armed force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine contrary to the principles of international law, including those enshrined in the UN Charter, is a classic case of aggression.

We consider as exceptional cynicism the fact that the aggression against Ukraine was planned, prepared and unleashed by the Russian Federation – the guarantor state of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity under the Budapest Memorandum.

The consequences of the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine are the occupation of the part of the territory of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions; ongoing gross and numerous violations of human rights on the occupied territories; more than 10,200 dead and 24,500 wounded citizens of Ukraine; the death of 298 passengers of the MH17 flight; destroyed residential buildings and vital infrastructure; over 1,5 million internally displaced persons.

Gravity and scale of the internationally wrongful acts being committed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine are striking and continue to grow. As history testifies, such acts result in responsibility, and both the Russian Federation and its supreme leadership shall inevitably be brought to justice.

In this regard, Ukraine welcomes the continuing efforts of the international community to penalize the international crime of aggression in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The amount of ratifications of the Kampala Amendments, accomplished in 2017, and their subsequent activation is a proof of the will of the international community to deal resolutely with acts of aggression.

We call on the Russian Federation to comply with the UN General Assembly resolutions 68/262 and 71/205 and to put an end to the armed aggression against Ukraine. We also request the Russian Federation to withdraw from Ukraine its regular armed forces, the illegal armed groups, mercenaries controlled, commanded and financed by the Russian Federation, its weapons and military equipment, to render void all acts aimed at legalizing the attempted annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, as well as the puppet regimes of the aggressor state in the occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine appeals to the international community to stand together against attempts of aggressor states, including the Russian Federation, to use aggression as a foreign policy instrument and to impose uncivilized and destructive for the world order and human values rules. We call to the international community to undertake all necessary measures to strengthen widely recognized principles of peaceful coexistence among states and respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity.