MFA issues statement on China and Brazil’s peace plan for Ukraine

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement in view of the „Common Understandings between China and Brazil on Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis“ presented in the letter dated 25 July 2024 from the Permanent Representatives of Brazil and China to the United Nations addressed to the secretary general, and discussed on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly last Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania states the following:

The „understandings“ fail to address the root cause of the „crisis“, namely the aggression by the Russian Federation against a UN member Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences, including continuous war crimes committed by Russia against the Ukrainian population and the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. They fail to take into account the principles of the UN Charter and disregard the political will of international community as reflected in the UN General Assembly’s resolution on comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The „understandings“ advocate de-escalation through „non-expansion of the battlefield“ and „non-intensification of fighting“, which in reality lay the ground for another frozen conflict in Europe and a permanent threat to European security and stability. Neither do they lay out a clear path towards restoring territorial integrity of Ukraine and upholding of the UN Charter and international law.

The „understandings“ sow division and distract from the ongoing efforts by the international community to end the war and restore peace under the principles laid out in President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. The failure to secure a place for Ukraine at the discussion table on the 27th of September, thus circumventing the fundamental principle of „nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine“, only reinforces the flaws inherent in the approach pursued by the proponents of the „understandings“.

Lithuania therefore calls on the UN Member States to avoid getting derailed by half-hearted selective efforts to immobilise a bleeding wound at the body of Europe and urges to rally behind President Zelensky’s Peace Formula aimed at restoring full sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, making the Russian leadership accountable for the crime of aggression, as well as numerous war crimes, and extending credible and lasting security guarantees to Ukraine, first and foremost through its full-fledged membership of the Euro-Atlantic collective security structures.