Representatives from 12 countries, including European Union members, Australia and Canada signed a joint address condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine at the occasion of the country’s Independence Day on Aug. 24.
The joint address was published on Twitter by Stewart McDonald, a member of the U.K. parliament.
“Ukraine should not be forgotten in a world where there is no shortage of issues claiming international attention,” the statement said.
The official statement was co-signed by MacDonald and four other representatives from the U.K. as well as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Portugal, Canada and Australia.
The petition called on the international community to stand by Ukraine and uphold sanctions against Russia for the war in eastern Ukraine, the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the tragic downing of the MH17 passenger airplane that was shot by a Russian missile which killed 298 civilians in July 2014.
The ongoing war in eastern Donbas which began six years ago claimed at least 13,000 lives, displacing 1.5 million citizens, according to the United Nations. Ex-U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker says the figure of people killed is closer to 15,000.
There have been over 20 failed attempts to halt hostilities in the Donbas since Russia invaded the region in 2014.
The latest one, negotiated on July 22, came into force at midnight on July 27.
It is yet seen as successful. One soldier died and one got wounded reportedly after coming into contact with an unknown explosive device on the frontline on Aug. 13.
In a recent interview aired on Aug. 22, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he negotiated the demining of 20 sites and the disengagement locations of troops as well as a prisoners exchange.
Recently, Ukraine’s delegation to the Minsk peace talks nominated a new leader, 86-year-old Leonid Kravchuk, who used to serve as Ukraine’s first president after the country gained independence in 1991, and Ukraine’s first prime-minister, 87-year-old Vitold Fokin, who joined the group as Kravchuk’s deputy.
The two have previously made a few strongly controversial statements though. Kravchuk said that he “feels” that Russia wants peace for the Donbas, while Fokin said that Ukraine “has to understand Russia” for seizing Crimea from Ukraine because, he said, if not for Russia’s navy being stationed on the peninsula, the United States would have occupied Crimea.
