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Mr. President, We are deeply shocked by the yesterday’s downing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 in Eastern Ukraine. We express our most sincere condolences to Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, UK, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and other nations whose citizens were among the 295 people who perished. Our deepest sympathies go to the families of the victims.

The circumstances of the downing must be established through an independent international investigation in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines. Perpetrators cannot escape responsibility. Investigators must immediately be granted access to the crash site and the black boxes handed over to independent authorities, in order to avoid tampering with evidence.

The circumstances are impossible to ignore. All point in one direction - a horrible crime committed as part of the armed aggression against Ukraine. The responsibility for this terror act lies on those who aggressively prevent Ukraine to effectively exercise its sovereign rights over its territory and airspace. It would not have happened, had Russia not armed and instigated bands of separatists in Donetsk and Lughansk provinces. International community cannot stand by in the face of such aggression. The conflict has become a threat to international peace and security.  We have been saying it all along since the occupation of Crimea.

Mr. President, mere facts.

The debris of the Malaysian plane lies in the area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

These recent weeks alone the Ukrainian cargo plane An-26 and Su-25 were shot downed by pro-Russian separatists from the high altitude. The third - Malaysian passenger plane - was deliberately brought down. Il-76 transport plane and half a dozen helicopters were downed by pro-Russian fighters at Luhansk airport and elsewhere.

In June, the separatists boasted of holding the SA-11 “Buk” missile system. They claimed to have used the system to shoot down the An-26 cargo plane at high altitude. The separatist commander Igor Strelkov claimed to the media to have shot down another aircraft at the same time when the Malaysian Airlines flight was overflying the area.

Mr. President,

We are truly shocked by the numbers of victims among the civilian population in Eastern Ukraine. Armed separatists, terrorists and foreign fighters and their supporters bear the responsibility for deaths and injuries among the civilian population, including children, women and elderly.

The carnage will not end unless the separatists and Russia do their bid to seek peace. President Poroshenko offered the Peace plan. Ukraine announced a unilateral ceasefire. The agreement in Berlin on July 2 provided the vehicle for talks.  Yet, separatists and terrorists in the east of Ukraine went on sowing terror, looting, robbing banks, racketeering, kidnapping, trafficking in humans.

A massive and continuous influx of foreign fighters went unabated from across the Russian border into neighbouring Lugansk, Donetsk regions. Along came T-65 tanks, Grad multiple rocket launchers, antiaircraft guns, towed antitank guns, BTR APC, MANPADS, small arms. In fact, terrorists in Donbas hardly care to remove from their heavy weapons the markings of Russian military units. 

Russian military helicopters and drones violate the Ukrainian space, as 40000 troops are tented within minutes of the Ukrainian border, in addition to 20000 stationed in the occupied Crimea. Russian citizens, many of them veterans of conflicts in Chechnia and Transdnistria, lead many of the terrorist groups. The Russian media channels pour assiduous anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The mouthpiece of the separatists, Life News, brags of the agility of rebels to shoot down any plane in sight.

Hostage taking by the he terrorist and separatists continues. An abducted and hooded Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko was trafficked by the separatists from Ukraine straight to the Russian Voronezh pretrial detention center. We condemn the unlawful detention of the Ukrainian citizens in Russia. Russia must respect norms of international law and release Savchenko immediatelly.

We remain appalled by the deteriorating human rights situation in Crimea.

Mr. President,

Lithuania urges to conduct a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight, as agreed by the SC.

Lithuania urges Russia to unequivocally distance itself from any kind of direct or indirect support of the separatists, terrorists and foreign fighters. Insurgents must lay down their weapons.

Lithuania calls on Russia to collaborate with Ukraine to ensure the security of their border and to prevent weapons and armed terrorists from entering the territory of Ukraine.

We call on Russia to constructively co-operate in the implementation of the peace plan put forward by the President Petro Poroshenko. Diplomatic solution is possible.

Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within the internationally recognized border, including Crimea, are non-negotiable and must be respected by all.

I thank you, Mr. President.