Japan has condemned Russia’s holding of illegal local and regional “elections” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
This is reported on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Ukrinform saw.
Russia’s “annexation” of parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as Crimea, is a clear violation of international law that infringes on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and is also inconsistent with the relevant UN General Assembly resolutions.
“Japan strongly condemns it as such an act is absolutely unacceptable. It is also totally unacceptable for Russia to conduct such “elections” in these regions on the basis of such an illegal ‘annexation.’”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an outrageous act that shakes the very foundation of the international order, and Japan cannot condone any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force.
“Japan will continue to strongly urge Russia once again to stop the aggression and withdraw its forces to Russian territory immediately. Japan will coordinate with the international community including the G7 and implement severe sanctions against Russia and provide strong support for Ukraine to realize a just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible,” the statement said.
As reported earlier, the Russian Federation has announced that on September 8-10, 2023, the so-called elections to local occupation administrations will be held in the temporarily occupied parts of the territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine, as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that these sham elections will not yield any legal consequences and will not lead to a change in the status of the Ukrainian territories captured by the Russian army.