MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Russia considers the West's emphasis on the principle of territorial integrity while completely ignoring the provision on the right of peoples to self-determination in the context of the Ukrainian conflict to be unacceptable, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We consider the West's, as well as the heads of the UN Secretariat and other international bodies' emphasis on the principle of territorial integrity while completely disregarding the right of nations to self-determination absolutely unacceptable," the top diplomat said at the 13th international meeting of high representatives in charge of security issues.
Lavrov recalled that the principle of self-determination became the international legal foundation for the decolonization process, bringing freedom to many countries in Africa and other regions of the world.
"The international community has long provided a comprehensive response to the apparent conflict between the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination. In 1970, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the UN Charter. It explicitly states that it is necessary to respect the territorial integrity of states whose governments represent the entire population living on a given territory and do not violate the right to self-determination," Lavrov said.
"Does the Kiev regime, which waged a war against its own people after the February 2014 coup d’etat, represent the interests of Crimean or Donbass residents? Of course not," he concluded.