Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to UN: Putin’s decree on Crimea null and void

“Ukraine states that the above motioned decree is null and void,” the diplomat said. He said that Putin's decision shows Russia’s "demonstrative disregard for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and a number of international documents”.  In particular, this concerns the UN Charter, UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/68/262 "The territorial integrity of Ukraine", the Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1994, the obligations under the Treaty on Friendship, the cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation of 1997 and other norms of international law. "The Ukrainian side stresses that the adoption of this decree is a continuation of systemic actions by the Russian Federation, which violate imperative norms of the general international law,” Yelchenko said.