Representatives of the occupation administration of Crimea took part in an international forum supported by the UN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has expressed its strong protest over the participation of representatives of the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) in the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12), which is taking place from November 4 to 8 in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, with the support of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

This was reported by the press service of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the participation of representatives of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation in events organized or held under the auspices of international organizations, especially UN organizations, is a flagrant violation of international law and a number of UN General Assembly resolutions, in particular, 68/262 "Territorial integrity of Ukraine".

Russia is attempting to use both international platforms and the territory of sovereign states, in this case the Arab Republic of Egypt, to legitimize the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories, deliberately provoking tensions, including at the level of bilateral relations. Despite numerous insistences from the Ukrainian side, UN-Habitat failed to ensure proper control and define a clear mechanism for registering WUF12 participants, thereby allowing criminals to participate in the event and jeopardizing the reputation of this important event.

"We call on the UN Secretary-General and the leadership of UN-Habitat to take immediate measures to stop the use of the WUF12 universal technical platform and UN-Habitat in general to try to legitimize the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories, as well as to spread propaganda and lies by representatives of the Russian occupation administration.

We are convinced that those who allowed such criminal negligence and allowed the participation of representatives of the Russian occupation administration in WUF12, thereby demonstrating disrespect for the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter, can no longer enjoy the trust of UN Member States, and therefore have the honor to work in UN-Habitat or other UN bodies," the statement reads.