ABC countries denounce Russian “aggression in Eastern Ukraine”
– Calls for Guyana to “issue a statement” denouncing Russia’s violation of international law

THE Head of Missions of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada to Guyana, on Thursday, held a joint media conference at the Chapel of the Canadian High Commission, Kingston, to address the actions of Russia in the Crimean peninsula. At the midday press conference, Canadian High Commissioner, Dr. Nicole Giles on behalf of the trio expressed a joint appreciation of the current ceasefire on the Ukrainian-Russian borders.

ABC POSITION
According to the Canadian diplomat, while the ABC nations welcome the ceasefire, they “still remain cautious given Russia’s recent track record of disregarding diplomatic and international order, and its blatant violation of its neighbour’s sovereignty.”
The High Commissioner gave a firm position that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is, what she called “a clear violation of the United Nations Charter.”
She made clear her country’s position stating that the militarised actions of Russia in the region constituted a violation of its obligations to a number of international agreements including: “Russia’s commitments under the Helsinki Final Act, its obligations to Ukraine under its 1997 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership; the Russian-Ukraine 1997 basing agreement; and its commitments in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994.”
The Canada High Commissioner further linked the Russian Government to separatist fighters in Eastern Ukraine. “Russia has been providing separatist fighters with heavy equipment in the form of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and air defense systems.”
UK High Commissioner Andrew Ayre, building on the sentiments of the Canadian diplomat, registered the concerns of his government and their western super-power allies with “mounting evidence” against the “large-scale incursions” made by Russian troops.
He bemoaned the unwarranted death of 2500 Ukrainian citizens, as a result of “Russia’s support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine with arms and troops.” The UK diplomat called on the Putin administration to “pursue a different path and to find a political solutions to this crisis.”
US Embassy Charge d’ Affaires, Bryan Hunt called out the actions of Russia as “a deliberate effort to support, and now fight alongside, illegal separatist in another sovereign country.” He stressed that if the situation does not stabilise then there would be a complete disregard for “rules and principles that have taken generations to build, with unparallelSed investment.”
He urged that “any threat… to the international order is a threat to all of our peace and security.”
On the annexation of the Crimean region to Russia, Hunt made clear the position of the US and their ally-representatives at the event that “we will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal ‘annexation’ of Crimea or any part of Ukraine”, with a reminder that “Borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun.”

CALL TO GUYANA
When questioned on the role of Guyana is in the considerations by the ABCs, Dr. Giles referenced the shared interest in global stability and international law. She added that both Guyana and Canada depend on “international order and international law to advance our interest whether they be commercial, political, or the protection of citizens.”
She cited the principles of the “inviolability of international borders as well as peaceful means top resolve disputes” for reasons surround Guyana’s proposed involvement. In relation to the direct role of Guyana, she expressed that “every country in the international community [ought] to stand up and indicate their support for the international order [and] their support for international law.”
“We would be very pleased for Guyana to issue a statement indicating its support for the principles that we have spoken about.”
The UK High Commissioner related that there is a parallel between Guyana and the Ukraine in relation to territorial claims by other countries. “Clearly there are two countries that have illegitimate claims to Guyana’s territory and therefore there is a parallel over here… we wouldn’t want conflict in Guyana relating to those illegitimate claims.”
Further questioned on engagements with the Guyana Government, the ABC diplomats took a standard position in maintaining the “confidentiality” of those discussions.
The Canadian diplomat however spoke on the fundamental principles of international law- inviolability of borders, and peaceful means to resolve dispute- stating that “Guyana has taken positions that are strongly in support of those principles”, similarly expressing her hope that Guyana would adopt similar positions of strength on the Ukraine issue.

CRIMEAN REFERENDUM
In March 2014, there was a referendum process in the then Eastern Ukraine region to determine the status of the Crimea as independent from Ukraine. The results of the referendum, coming from a people who are predominantly Russian in ethnicity, reflected a clear will to sever all connections with Ukraine in favour of a Russian annexation.
The United States had however made its posture clear that it would reject the results of the referendum even before it was held. When questioned on the legitimate process of a referendum and a comparison between the 2014 referendum of Crimea and the current referendum of Scotland- calling for independence from the United Kingdom- the UK High Commissioner responded that he is unable to comment on the Scottish referendum.
“I cannot comment on Scotland and I won’t”, he said.
Both the Canadian and American Heads of Missions denounced the legitimacy of the Crimean referendum, calling out that the legitimacy of the referendum was challenged based on Russia’s military “occupation” of the region at the time.
“The Crimean people are under Russian occupation, they don’t have the ability to express their will or to pursue their self-determination”, according to the US diplomat.

FURTHER RUSSIAN SANCTIONS
In recent times, a number of sanctions have been levied against the Russian government for the sake of isolating the regime. This posture was echoed in Russia’s exclusion from the G-8 now G-7 countries which include the US, UK and Canada are included among the seven.
The UK High Commissioner, commenting on the sanctions placed on Russia, confirmed that there will no doubt “be further consequences”, if the consequences of Russia’s actions continue to persist.
The three superpowers collectively urged Russia to make clear its commitment to peaceful and meaningful engagements by “withdrawing all military forces and equipment from Ukraine and away from its border, an ending support for the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.”