Seimas calls upon the United Nations to take immediate action to ensure a no-fly zone over Ukraine

Press release, 17 March 2022 

The Seimas has adopted a Resolution calling upon the United Nations to take immediate action to ensure a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

‘We propose neither to attack anyone nor to declare a war on anyone. The proposal under the Resolution is to ensure the safety and protection of the lives of civilians, who travel and transport humanitarian aid to Ukraine and some of whom are, by the way, European citizens and citizens of the member countries of NATO and the United Nations. That is all that our Resolution is about,’ said Paulius Saudargas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas.

The Resolution calls on the parliaments of democratic states to push for the opening of humanitarian corridors on Ukrainian territory to allow civilians’ safe passage out of the zones of military actions and the territories unlawfully occupied and controlled by the Russian Federation and to protect humanitarian convoys, as well as to aim for the declaration of a no-fly zone in the skies over these territories and over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and nuclear waste storage facilities.

Democratic states are encouraged to supply arms to Ukraine by giving priority to air defence systems that can help save civilian lives and to immediately and in a coordinated manner close their airspace and ports for aircraft and vessels of the Russian Federation.

The parliaments of democratic states are invited to urge their governments to announce additional sanctions against the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus that contributes to the military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

The EU Member States are called for ensuring that secondary sanctions are imposed on states, natural and legal persons attempting to circumvent EU sanctions.

The EU Member States and members of their parliaments are urged to mobilise their full political support for Ukraine and to enable the EU institutions to take action with a view to granting Ukraine EU candidate status and commencing the negotiation process without delay.

The Seimas has unanimously adopted the Resolution on Active Measures to Ensure the Security of the Civilian Population and Critical Infrastructure in Ukraine (draft XIVP-1420(2) by 100 votes of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting.

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: egle[email protected]