H.E. Mr. Sergii Reva:

I thank the Deputy for his questions, which were very much to the point. In the context of Russian statements regarding the origin of the troops in the Crimea, a well known argument has been put forward to the effect that they are not Russian military personnel but are rather members of the local militia or self-defence service. Look at those people. The argument to which I refer would sound ridiculous if the situation - and the consequences relating to it - were not so dangerous. Nobody can deny that they are wearing Russian uniforms or carrying Russian machine guns, grenade launchers and other equipment. However, it has been stated that - allegedly - they could buy these uniforms in stores. They could buy jackets and perhaps even helmets, but what about weapons such as machine guns and grenade launchers? Do members believe that the weapons to which I refer could be bought in a store? I am from Sevastopol and I have never come across a store in which such armaments are sold. What about the armoured personnel carriers they are using?

The Deputy referred to the OSCE mission. From the very beginning we were in favour of the latter and we invited international observers to come to Ukraine. Members may have doubts about or may wish to question the information I am supplying, particularly as I am an interested party. They can also doubt any information provided by our Russian colleagues. Let the international community send impartial and unbiased observers into Ukraine in order to see what is happening. Who are the people who seized administrative buildings? Who blocked Ukrainian military units from performing their duties? Who are they? Are there any doubts as to who they might be? I think I was clear enough when I referred to this matter earlier.

As far as the Budapest memorandum is concerned, I referred to many international laws breached by Russia. What is the Budapest memorandum? Members may recall that Ukraine was the first state in the world to renounce its nuclear arsenal. I have been involved in the arena of diplomacy for 35 years and I can inform the committee that I was there and I recall how difficult was the decision we made in this regard. If we still had nuclear weapons, perhaps Russia would not be behaving in quite the same way. However, we gave up our nuclear weapons and passed them - through international control - to Russia. We received clear-cut guarantees from the Russian Federation, the United States, the UK and, later on, France and China in the context of the Budapest memorandum. What are the provisions of the memorandum? All the countries to which I refer are guarantors. According to the memorandum, Russia is a guarantor of our territorial integrity. Can members imagine this? What are the obligations under the memorandum? Not only is Russia a guarantor, it must also refrain from exerting economic pressure. I do not want to recall the gas war and other problems with Russia in the economic sphere since the memorandum was signed.

Let us speak about security. Another provision is that when problems arise, Ukraine can call for immediate consultations with the guarantors. We did so. We immediately asked for a meeting with the Russian representatives in order that we might discuss and de-escalate the situation at the port. What was the answer we received? We were told that it was an internal matter and that Crimea was part of Ukraine. It was stated that Crimea was ours and that we should settle our own problems. We were also informed that this was not a matter in respect of which the Budapest memorandum should apply. So far, I have no information about changes in the Russian position.