The Lithuanian parliament voted unanimously on 8 May to adopt a resolution declaring it will not recognize territories of Ukraine seized by Russia, LRT reported.
All 118 members of the Seimas supported the resolution, with no abstentions or votes against.
The resolution comes amid reports that the US is ready to recognize Russia’s de jure control over Crimea and de facto control over occupied territories in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts as part of a peace deal.
Moscow occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. This includes Crimea and parts of the Donbas oblast occupied in 2014, and additional territories taken after the start of the full-scale war in 2022. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the possibility of recognizing Russian hold over Crimea.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also outlined red lines in peace negotiations, saying that Ukraine “will not agree to recognize any temporarily occupied territories as Russian.”
“No seizures of Ukrainian territory carried out and continuing to be carried out by the Russian Federation will be recognized by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, neither de jure nor de facto,” the document said.
The resolution affirmed Ukraine as a sovereign and independent European state with the right to defend itself and independently determine its domestic, foreign and security policy matters. It recognizes Ukraine’s borders as those acknowledged by the international community in 1991.
“Today it is very important not only to stop this unjustified war, ensure long-term peace, but also to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said Remigijus Motuzas, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, when presenting the draft resolution.
Motuzas emphasized that Moscow has repeatedly claimed it is fighting a “Nazi regime” in Ukraine, using this pretext to continue its attack that has lasted more than three years and killed tens of thousands of people.
“We cannot allow and agree that Russia rewrites and falsifies the history of World War II,” he added.
“It is vital for them that the principle of territorial integrity is mentioned in all NATO and European Union countries. This is very significant support for Ukrainians and their positions,” Conservative MP Audronius Ažubalis, one of the document’s authors, stressed the importance of such support for Ukraine.
The resolution calls on parliaments of other countries to adopt similar documents emphasizing unconditional support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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