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The annexation of four captured regions in Ukraine by Russia represents a significant escalation in a situation that requires sanity to return to normalcy.
We are gravely concerned about the dramatic turn of the Russia-Ukraine war following Russia's annexation of four conquered Ukrainian regions.
According to media sources, President Vladimir Putin signed documents on Friday to legally start the process of merging Russian-controlled Luhansk and parts of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia into the Russian Federation following a series of contentious referendums.
It basically provides Moscow with a land connection to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. While the annexation of Crimea was the first in Europe since World War II, the latest action is the largest.
All five regions account for roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory. We strongly reject the latest annexation and creeping Russification of a sovereign country.
Using force to change borders is an obvious violation of international law. It exemplifies the insanity of a war, now in its eighth month, that has shown to be harmful to even distant countries like Bangladesh.
The war's disruptions, along with the West's response in the form of severe banking, trade, and commercial sanctions, resulted in unprecedented instabilities in the global supply chain.
Numerous people have been killed, injured, or displaced on the ground. With Ukrainian forces clawing back victories in recent weeks, and Russian forces mass mobilizing as a consequence, along with the threat of using nuclear weapons, things are soon becoming uncontrollable.
The irony of the new event is that Putin denounced the colonial past of a "satanist" West during the annexation ceremony in the Kremlin. He said that western colonists committed genocide, opium warfare, and robbed states.
That cannot be argued. Does it, however, legitimize his own "colonisation" project? He expressed his willingness to fight for a "larger historical Russia" with whatever tools he had at his disposal.
Ukraine, as a sovereign nation, must not become a victim of this conflict. And the West, for its part, must guarantee that it does not contribute to it by raising tensions to the point where such harsh measures are justified.
So far, the West has been an active if untrustworthy third party in this war, with its actions having nearly as big of an impact on the world as the two warring parties.
Instead of attempting to ease tensions, it has occasionally served as a provocateur. Its sanctions, meant at Russians and Russian interests, have instead inflicted worldwide pain.
Clearly, the plan of assisting Ukraine militarily while punishing Russia economically is not yielding the expected results, highlighting the significance of employing more prudent means and solutions.
We urge Russia's leadership to halt their destructive campaign in Ukraine, and the international community to provide the groundwork for a de-escalation of tensions.
Nothing justifies the continuation of this war or any illegitimate occupation of occupied territories. We urge everyone to seek peaceful and diplomatic solutions to this war.
