On 7 May 2024, Russia is set to hold an inauguration ceremony for Vladimir Putin, a move that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claims is an attempt to create an illusion of legitimacy for Putin’s nearly lifelong hold on power. The Ministry argues that Putin has transformed the Russian Federation into an aggressor state and its ruling regime into a dictatorship.
According to the statement, the so-called March “elections” in Russia violated numerous international agreements that form the basis of the modern system of international relations, including the UN Charter, the Declaration on Principles of International Law, the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and dozens of UN General Assembly resolutions.
The Ministry asserts that Russia’s illegal organization of the “electoral process” in the temporarily occupied sovereign territories of Ukraine – parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol – constitutes a brutal violation of generally recognized norms and principles of international law. The statement also condemns the forced involvement of millions of Ukrainian citizens residing in the temporarily occupied territories or forcibly displaced to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Given the outstanding arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Vladimir Putin, Ukraine sees no legal grounds for recognizing him as a democratically elected and legitimate president of the Russian Federation. The Ministry cites recent resolutions by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, which confirm the illegitimacy of the so-called “elections” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and their undemocratic nature within the Russian Federation.
The Ministry of Defense calls on other states, international organizations, and the public to follow this example, refuse to recognize the results of the Russian pseudo-elections and the legitimacy of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, continue to resist his destruction of the rule of law and democratic values, and provide effective support to the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression, which poses a threat to European and global security, peace, and stability.
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