President of Ukraine

Joint statement by the President of Ukraine, the President of the Republic of Lithuania and the President of the Republic of Poland

20 December 2021 - 16:01

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the recognition of the restoration of Ukraine’s Independence by the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Lithuania , the Presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland:

acknowledged that the recognition of the restoration of Independence of Ukraine by the Republic of Poland, as the first country in the world, and the Republic of Lithuania 30 years ago became an important milestone on the way to a full-fledged reunification of Europe;

reminded that the democratic tradition developed in the Commonwealth of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as by the Solidarity movement in Poland, the Reform Movement Sąjūdis in Lithuania, the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, and the struggle of Belarusians for democracy represent strong pursuit of freedom, human rights and democracy in Central and Eastern Europe;

underlined that since then the bonds of genuine strategic partnership have successfully stood the test of time and continued to grow stronger. They reiterated their commitment to further developing strategic partnership between Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland based on shared values and common interests;

confirmed their clear commitment to further expanding their cooperation in a wide range of areas such as security and defence, economy, energy and others, including within the Lublin Triangle format. The Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland reconfirm their full support for Ukraine’s membership in the EU and NATO;

expressed their mutual support and solidarity in the face of the migration crisis, artificially created and orchestrated by Minsk on the Lithuanian-Belarusian and Polish-Belarusian borders, and stated their resolve to join efforts to counter it. They also noted that this hybrid attack represented a direct threat to the security of the entire Europe;

expressed their particular concern over the continuing deterioration of security and stability in the region and evolving threats, including hybrid ones, resulting, inter alia, from the ongoing Russian aggression, and agreed on the need of joint efforts to strengthen their resilience in the face of those threats in order to counter them in a more efficient and coordinated manner;

reiterated their strong commitment to further strengthening the European energy security and in this regard expressed their profound concern over the Nord Stream 2 project that represents a security challenge for the European region. They expressed their readiness to act jointly to oppose the monopolization of the European gas market by Russia, which is using energy as a geopolitical tool;

reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters;

called upon the international community to step up sanctions on the Russian Federation over its ongoing aggression against Ukraine and once again urged the Kremlin to deescalate the situation by withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian borders and temporarily occupied territories.