This decision was taken in violation of the UN Charter, the Declaration on Principles of International Law (1970), the CSCE Helsinki Final Act (1975), the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine (1997), as well as a number of other international treaties. At the same time, the emphatic rejection of the Russian Federation to hold prior consultations with Ukraine and the states - guarantors of Ukraine’s territorial integrity (UK, USA, France and China) indicates that the Russian Federation neglected its obligations under international law and the Budapest Memorandum of 1994.

Taking the decision to use the armed forces on the territory of an independent sovereign state which is one of the founders of the United Nations, the Council of Federation misrepresented the content of international law provisions relating to situations where the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of its own citizens who reside outside the territory of the state, requires military intervention of the state of their nationality.

According to the Constitution of Ukraine and relevant international laws, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine and one of the administrative units of the Ukrainian state. It needs to be emphasized that none duly authorized national, foreign or international institution did not allege a violation on the territory of Ukraine (in particular, in Crimea) of human rights, which would require the intervention of any international entity or the international community. Thus, appeal of self-appointed leaders of the administrative unit of Ukraine - Crimean Autonomous Republic - to the Russian authorities to provide military aid is illegal and any decisions taken on the basis of this appeal are negligible.

Applying the principle of good faith of interpretation of international treaties, there is an obvious material breach of the Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the status and conditions of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine of August 8, 1997 (extended in April 2010). The paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Treaty determines that the military units of the Russian Black Sea fleet "operate in places of their dislocation in accordance with the Russian law, respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, observe its laws and do not allow interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine." The paragraph 2 of Article 8 is also violated. In accordance with this paragraph, the military forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet "conduct exercises and other activities of combat and operational training within the training centers, landfills, positioning areas and dispersal areas, shooting ranges and, in restricted areas, in designated areas of airspace in coordination with the competent authorities of Ukraine." The latest movements of the Russian troops in Crimea were not coordinated with the competent authorities of Ukraine. However, the Russian military (they confirmed their citizenship to the mass media) have left their place of stationing in violation of the Agreement.

Bearing this in mind, the Ukrainian side evaluates actions of the Russian Federation as an act of aggression, which is an international crime. We remind that international law provides for a special regime of international responsibility of a State that violates peremptory norms of general international law; persons guilty of committing the crime of aggression bear individual criminal responsibility under international law.

The neglect by the Russian Federation of the basic principles of international law will inevitably lead to serious political, economic, military losses in today's global world, destabilize situation not only in Eastern Europe but also in Russia. The use by Russia, as a pretext for military aggression, a virtual violation of the collective rights of the population of the given region or regions of Ukraine is likely to become in the future a precedent for similar military intervention of the Russian Federation to other countries; it may also be used by other states with the aim to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia and support separatist movements in certain regions of Russia.

Thus, the actions of the Russian Federation provide the legal basis for the implementation of Ukraine's inherent right of individual and collective self-defense, which is enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. It is necessary to conduct urgent consultations with the states that are potentially ready to support Ukraine in repelling foreign aggression. Taking into account the numerous violations by the Russian Federation of multilateral and bilateral agreements, Ukraine also has a right to stop the execution of any of its obligations under bilateral agreements with Russia, in particular, with respect to the temporary stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory.

The policy of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine destroys not only the bilateral international legal framework. It threatens the overall system of international law.

International law is and remains an instrument of peaceful settlement of disputes between states. Any intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another is unacceptable and must be condemned by the international community.

Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia