May 24, 2014

OFFICIAL STATEMENT
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Donetsk People's Republic and Novorossiya

on the Military Conflict
between Novorossiya and the Kiev Government
and the So-called "Ukrainian Presidential Elections"
of May 25, 2014.

 

On May 25, 2014, so-called "Ukrainian presidential elections" called by the actual Kiev government will take place in a part of the territory of former Ukraine.

In this connection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPR and Novorossiya is authorized to state as follows:

1. Under the Declaration on Sovereignty and as a result of the Referendum of the 11th of May, 2014 two republics of Novorossiya, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic are sovereign states that have started the process of association into a new sovereign European federal state, Novorossiya.

2. Since the 12th of May, 2014, the date of the Referendum vote counting, the actual Kiev government is an aggressor against the DPR and the LPR and its troops and paramilitary units are occupation forces. We are authorized to declare that we are in a in a state of war with the actual Kiev government. Whereupon where are not in a state of war with the state of Ukraine, since we do not recognize and have never recognized the powers of the actual Kiev Government to represent the state of Ukraine. The head of that state (except the Donetsk and the Lugansk Regions and the Crimean Autonomy that have exercised their right to self-determination) is Mr. V.F. Yanukovich whose term of office expires in February, 2016.

3. At present, besides the troops acting on orders of the actual Kiev government, the DPR and the LPR fight death squadrons manned by Ukrainian and foreign mercenaries acting on orders of the actual government of the city of Dnepropetrovsk headed by Mr. I.V. Kolomoyskyi. According to available facts, they do not obey the Kiev government directly, although they are its war allies. Other enemies fighting us are mercenary troops and gangs acting by orders of different parties, including armed mercenary troops from third states. The latter fact permits us to state the fact of an international aggression against Novorossiya, since infiltration of armed mercenaries is also considered as an aggression under the UN Charter.

4. We are authorized to declare that no "Ukrainian presidential elections" may and will take place in the territories of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic, and their results in our territories will have no legal effect. On the other hand, we must warn that such vote may take place in the areas occupied by the actual Kiev government, such as the Svatovsky District where the Kiev government armor and troops are concentrated, and the results of such vote may be used for propaganda purposes. We also presume that the allies of the Kiev Government, the NATO and the EU countries, as well as the OSCE that has fully sided with them will recognize the results of those elections and take measures to legitimize the new regime.

5. We presume that hopes for appeasement of the aggressor after the elections cherished by some politicians are false and that after having obtained a semblance of legitimacy, the Kiev regime will not withdraw troops. On the contrary, it will start a new military offensive in the East immediately. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPR and Novorossiya is obliged to warn all politicians and all states about the inadmissibility of any actions aimed at the legitimization of an aggressor. In this case, they will be jointly responsible with Kiev for the war crimes committed by it, namely for the promotion of warmongering, for crimes against peace and international security, for the continuing crimes committed by the Kiev regime in violation of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions against prisoners of war, the wounded and civilians.

Our estimate is based on facts. We would like to draw attention to the statements made by the two front-runners in this election. E.g., Yu.V. Tymoshenko declared her desire to exterminate Russians with the help of mass destruction weapons. Her wish soon came true in Odessa and Mariupol where chemical weapons were used under orders of her associates. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons started an investigation procedure in respect of those facts, inter alia upon request of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This procedure is named: "Fact-Finding Mission on the Possible use of Chemical Weapons" in the cities of Odessa and Mariupol. On the 23rd of May, P.A. Poroshenko declared that it was necessary to continue war in the East of Ukraine and promised three thousand dollars' salaries and one hundred thousand dollars' funeral grants to the mercenaries who are ready to exterminate the population of Novorossiya. We would like to draw attention to the fact that those declarations are not election slogans either: Ukrainian soldiers do not wish to fight the people, and the number of the Kiev mercenaries invading our territories from the West is growing on a daily basis.

6. In this connection, we were surprised to hear the opinion from Moscow where those elections were called "a step in the right direction". We call Russian politicians to review their attitudes carefully. Can actions leading to aggravation of a war be "a step in the right direction"? Can the encouragement and legitimization of a regime that has shown its ability to stoop to any war crimes, including the use of WMD and killing the wounded lying in the beds of a hospital they captured be "a step in the right direction"? Can, finally, the encouragement of the Nazis who have won out in Kiev to elect their new Fuehrer legitimately be "a step in the right direction"?

Possibly, the Russian politicians have some illusions about the new Kiev authorities. We presume that those illusions will be shattered as early as on the 26th of May, 2014 when numerous new items will be added to the lists of war victims and perpetrated war crimes. But in this case, this blood will be also on the conscience of those who have directly or indirectly supported the 25th of May elections.

We call all politicians to dissociate themselves with those illegitimate elections, to condemn them and to declare expressly their non-recognition of their results immediately.

Politicians have only a single day to distance themselves from the Kiev regime and the" elections" it holds so that the new bloodshed and new war victims would not burden their conscience. We are sure that the people of Donbass will not believe any crocodile tears about innocent victims and ritual consolations any more, irrespective of their source. We appeal to all persons set in authority, we are obliged to warn everyone who has hastily declared their support to this event being a hazard to the cause of peace: denounce those elections now, or you will share responsibility for all their tragic consequences.

7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares its confidence that the military adventure of the Kiev authority will suffer a crushing defeat, the aggressor will be punished as it deserves, and all war criminals will be brought to trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Ukraine. We declare our commitment to the cause of peace and call all states to cooperate in attaining a lasting peace and curbing the Kiev aggressors.

The Collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk People's Republic and Novorossiya,

in concurrence with the State Council of Novorossiya
the 24th of May, 2014

(Перевод Е. Цыпин)