The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, condemned the attacks that Russia carried out on Friday in Ukraine, despite having announced a ceasefire, in a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba.
These attacks are a contradiction to the unilateral ceasefire announced by President Vladimir Putin,” Borrell said Friday in a statement quoted by the Spanish agency Europa Press.
Borrell said the Russian ceasefire “does not change the fact that Russia is illegally occupying parts of Ukraine”.
Putin announced on Thursday a 36-hour ceasefire to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas between noon today and midnight Saturday Moscow time (09:00 today and 21:00 on Saturday in Lisbon).
The two sides accused each other of carrying out attacks, although Ukraine has not clarified whether its troops would suspend fighting during the truce announced by Putin.
Ukraine and its Western allies denounced the Russian President’s initiative as a ploy.
“In the absence of concrete measures, it just looks like an attempt to buy time to rethink and regroup troops while [Russia] tries to repair its international reputation,” Borrell said.
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy considered that the ceasefire “does not change the fact that Russia is illegally occupying parts of Ukrainian territory”.
In this regard, he reaffirmed that the only serious option to restore peace and security is “the withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine”.
During the phone conversation, Borrell and Kuleba condemned Russian attacks against “vital infrastructure, including residential buildings”, over the past few weeks.
Borrell called the attacks war crimes, which “indiscriminately destroy infrastructure, residential and medical facilities, deliberately targeting and killing civilians”.
“Russia’s political and military leaders, and all those responsible and involved in these and other war crimes committed in Ukraine, will be held accountable,” he assured, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Borrell reaffirmed that the EU is determined to maintain its “political, military, economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine” for as long as necessary.
The Spanish diplomat said he also spoke with Kuleba about preparations for the Foreign Affairs Council on January 23, in which the Ukrainian minister will participate via video conference.
Kuleba added, on the social network Twitter, that the conversation was also aimed at preparing the next EU-Ukraine summit, scheduled for February 3.
“I told him what our expectations are and we focused on the format to succeed”, said the Ukrainian minister.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year to “demilitarize and denazify” the neighboring country.
In September, Russia annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia, after having done the same with Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine and the international community in general do not recognize Russian sovereignty in the annexed regions.
The number of civilian and military casualties in almost 11 months of fighting is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, have warned that the toll will be considerably high.
