Mrs. Olena Shaloput:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for their genuine interest in Ukraine, in current developments and its prospects, as well as the efforts to restore peace and stability in my country. Above all, I thank them for their support in solidarity with Ukraine.

Since 2014 my country has fought against foreign military aggression. It is not a civil war or a guerrilla war; it is nothing but aggression shown by Russia in the occupation of part of Ukraine, Crimea, and its invasion of certain parts of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk region. Since the aggression began, more than 9,800 Ukrainian citizens have been killed, 23,000 have been wounded and 1.8 million have become internally displaced. Over 7% of Ukrainian territory has been seized by Russia and millions of Ukrainian citizens live under occupation.

At the same time we have not witnessed political will in the Kremlin to implement even the basic provisions of the Minsk agreements. Moreover, this year Russia has intentionally escalated the security, economic and humanitarian situation in Donbas. Steps such as imposing a visa tax on Avdiivka and Krasnogorovka, recognition of so-called documents issued by the terrorist organisations, the circulation of Russian roubles as the only currency and the illegal expropriation of Ukrainian assets and property have led to the crippling of all four thematic tracks of the Minsk agreements.

The formula of a peace settlement is simple and clear. Russia needs to stop shooting, withdraw weapons, set our captives free and let the OSCE monitoring mission carry out its mandate. Did it do everything it could with this formula? Did it withdraw weapons from our territory? Sadly, I believe I know the answers to these questions. Instead, the situation on the ground remains tense and volatile.

All previous agreements to provide for a comprehensive ceasefire were neglected by Russia. For example, from 1 April to 15 June this year, 3,849 ceasefire violations against Ukraine were registered. Ukraine's combat death toll is shocking. Between 1 January and 15 January this year, 115 servicemen were killed in action and 853 wounded. At the same time the civilian population remains highly vulnerable. From 1 January to 15 June this year, the OSCE SMM confirmed that there had been double the number of civilian casualties compared with the number for the same period last year. Since the beginning of the year, 47 civilians have been killed and 222 wounded. Moreover, the militants continue to shell buildings and infrastructural facilities. In April and May they shelled 47 and 39, respectively, which resulted in damage to buildings and facilities, but the sustained attacks would not be possible without logistical support. The uncontrolled segment of the Ukraine-Russia border remains the source of escalation on the ground and inflows of weaponry and military personnel from Russia into Donbas persist. Since 1 January, 125 illegal crossings of the said part of the border were registered. Some 66 so-called humanitarian convoys were sent to my country.

At the same time, to hide the violation of the Minsk agreements, the terrorists significantly restrict the freedom of movement of the monitors. The mission has already this year reported at least 20 incidents of intimidation of its monitors by militants. The tragic death in April of a member of the OSCE SMM patrol and the injuring of two monitors in the non-government controlled area in the Luhansk region was a cynical attempt by the Russian terrorist forces to undermine the efforts of Ukraine and the OSCE to stabilise the situation along the contact line.

Another shocking incident happened in May when a member of an illegal organisation in the Donetsk region resorted to aggressive sexual harassment of a female member of the SMM patrol. Just a few days ago, on 10 June, the OSCE SMM reported that militants armed with machine guns had fired in the direction of OSCE patrol cars, attempted to enter the cars, threatened the observers with weapons and smashed the glass of a car.

Two main principles, immediate release and the use of the all-for-all formula, are totally ignored by Russia and its proxies. Currently, the militants detain 129 hostages. Despite Russia's commitment to put additional pressure on the militants to let the humanitarian organisation, the International Committee of the Red Cross, into the region, the situation on the ground remains tense. We have not seen even the slightest change. For example, this year the International Committee of the Red Cross has conducted 35 visits to 25 places under the control of Ukraine and only one to a place in the uncontrolled territory of Donbas. All of this tension, with ongoing Russian efforts to build up its military infrastructure along Ukraine's eastern state border and in the temporarily occupied Crimea, create a new risk of the full-scale resumption of hostilities and may serve as cover for preparation for a possible full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

In the past year we have consistently demonstrated that we are ready to move forward towards implementation of the Minsk agreements. Even with the constant provocations by Russian terrorist forces, the armed forces of Ukraine follow the regime of silence and open fire only in response. On the political track, Ukraine demonstrates commitment and constructiveness as much as possible, but a political settlement is only possible if Russia provides adequate security preconditions.

A political settlement will not make any sense as long as we have constant shelling, Russian troops and mercenaries on Ukrainian soil, Russian weapons in Ukraine and no control over our border.

Before coming to the next issue, I express my sincere gratitude to Ireland and all those countries which supported the resolution adopted last December on human rights in the autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Since the start of the occupation, the human rights situation on the peninsula has deteriorated sharply and we have witnessed murders, torture and illegal detention. The Russian authorities use such methods to eliminate any public opposition to the illegal occupation of Crimea. Particularly cynical was its decision to ban the Mejlis on the false accusations of engaging in extremist activities. Such a decision potentially threatens approximately 3,000 members of Mejlis structures. Approximately 4,000 Ukrainians and 20,000 Crimean Tatars were forced to leave the peninsula and Russia has more than 29 political prisoners in occupied Crimea. Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice which, as a result, on 19 April, recognised the validity of Ukraine's claims and ordered Russia to take measures to stop violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. With regard to the situation in Crimea, the court ordered Russia to refrain from maintaining or imposing restrictions on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to maintain its representative institutions, including the Mejlis, and to ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language. Ukraine will spare no effort in urging Russia to show full compliance with its obligations as an occupying power according to international law and to ensure safe and unfettered access for international human rights missions to the occupied peninsula to monitor and report on the situation in accordance with their mandate.

Another issue is the militarisation of Crimea. After the illegal occupation, the militarisation of the peninsula has completely changed the security landscape. Compared to the preoccupation period, Russia has almost doubled the personnel strength of its military in Crimea. Particularly dangerous are Russian actions to prepare Crimea's military infrastructure for the deployment of nuclear weapons. International partners and key global organisations, as well as regional organisations, should develop a co-ordinated approach to counter Russian military activity in Crimea. Solidarity and consistency in the international policy of non-recognition of the illegal occupation of Crimea are very important. Of particular importance are sanctions. We welcome the recent decision of the Foreign Affairs Council to extend by 12 months its restrictive measures. We expect economic sanctions against Russia to be extended without substantial changes in July this year since we have had no single ground so far to reduce them.

Ukraine has to oppose Russian aggression and at the same time reform itself. We have strengthened democracy and the rule of law. Law and justice are supreme in post-Maidan Ukrainian society. The state is undergoing unprecedented reform in the area of justice and law enforcement. A network of specialised institutions to combat corruption has been created and the unique e-declaration system of assets, income and property of public employees was introduced. The scale of this measure is unprecedented, even in European practice. We initiated a clean-up of the banking system and have made good progress in deregulation that significantly eases the registration of business. As a result, we climbed 32 positions in the World Bank's ease of doing business rating. We have taken hard but important decisions in the energy sector which have led to Ukraine's energy independence from the use of Russian gas supplies. Not many countries in the world have experienced making so many positive changes in such a limited time span.

Starting this month, Ukrainian citizens can enter the European Union, Norway, Lichtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland without a visa. In that regard, we highly appreciate Irish support during the vote in the European Parliament. We hope that at an early date Ireland will cancel the visa regime for Ukraine. For our part, we have already done so. We are grateful to Ireland, despite its own challenges, for standing firmly by Ukraine's side in its fight against foreign aggression.