By BRUSSELS. May 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union and Japan demanded that Russia immediately stop its military aggression in the territory of Ukraine, and reaffirmed their intention to provide coordinated support to Kyiv.
This is stated in a joint statement adopted at the end of the EU-Japan Summit, which took place on Thursday in Tokyo. "The EU and Japan demand that Russia immediately stop its military aggression in the territory of Ukraine, immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence within its internationally recognised borders. We support Ukraine in cooperation with the G7 and other like-minded countries, including by further expanding sanctions against Putin’s Russia," the parties said.
In this regard, Brussels and Tokyo assured that they intend to continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
They stated that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against independent and sovereign Ukraine grossly violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter and undermines European and global security and stability. "It makes our cooperation more necessary than ever in our determination to restore peace and stability and uphold the UN Charter and international law. We strongly condemn Russia’s aggression that causes massive loss of life and suffering to civilians," they said in the statement. The parties also expressed their confidence that those responsible for the war crimes and the atrocities perpetrated by Russia will be held accountable and brought to justice.
"We recognise that Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine shakes the rules-based international order and generates economic disruption globally, affecting partners around the world. We will work, together with the international community, in global and multilateral fora, to address and mitigate these negative global impacts caused by the aggression," they said.
In addition, the parties equally condemned the role of the Lukashenko regime in Belarus in facilitating Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
They also said that The Russian aggression against Ukraine reverberates strongly in international energy markets, leading to further significant price increases of fossil fuels and electricity globally. "The European Union expresses appreciation to Japan for the solidarity shown earlier this year in ensuring sufficient and affordable liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to EU markets. In the light of sanctions on Russia, we will cooperate to keep global energy markets stable and help ensure each other’s security of supply, in particular for the supply of LNG," the parties said.
In addition, the statement refers to "immediate action to accelerate the energy transition based on energy efficiency and the large-scale deployment of clean, safe and sustainable energies." "We will cooperate to reduce Europe’s dependency on energy supplies from Russia and to ensure diversification of energy supply sources, and acknowledge the need for investments to achieve this," the parties said.
