The undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemn without reservation the violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation in early March 2014 and expresses its gravest concern that members of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament unanimously authorised such action in advance.
We believe that there has been a serious violation of the basic principles of the Council of Europe in Article 3 of, and the preamble to, the Statute.
We therefore call upon the President of the Assembly, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to convene at the earliest opportunity a high level meeting with the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation in order to de-escalate tensions and to start a dialogue to find a durable and peaceful solution to the present crisis.