Ukraine has reacted sharply to the visit of the delegation of the Pan-African Parliament to the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region and expressed a strong protest, UNN reports citing the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest in connection with the visit of the delegation of the Pan-African Parliament consisting of representatives of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, South Sudan, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Eswatini, Zambia, Somalia and Mozambique to the territory of Donetsk region of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation," the statement reads.
By participating in the Russian propaganda campaign, African parliamentarians showed gross disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and disregarded the fundamental principles of international law, the ministry emphasized.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that the statements made during this visit about opposition to colonialism, made on Ukrainian land illegally seized by Russia in the course of the neocolonial war of aggression against Ukraine, are completely absurd.
"The visit of the African delegation contradicts the spirit of friendship and mutual respect that characterizes Ukraine's relations with the states of the African continent and causes serious damage to the reputation of the Pan-African Parliament, established in 2004 as one of the organs of the African Union, in particular to promote peace, security and stability.
It also contradicts the Joint Statement of the Chairperson of the African Union and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission of February 24, 2022, which calls on Russia and other regional and international actors to "strictly respect international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," the statement said.
Official Kyiv hopes that this visit and the statements made during it do not reflect the official position of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament.
"In this regard, we demand that the leadership of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament strongly condemn the visit of its representatives to the territory of the Donetsk region of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and avoid any further contacts with representatives of the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry summarized.