On 18 March 2014, the Russian Federation illegally annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.

Over the four years since that time, the Russian Federation has been committing a crime of aggression against Ukraine and occupying parts of its territory.

Russia has launched repressions against the civilian population of the occupied Crimea and Donbas, including numerous illegal arrests, disappearances of persons, assassinations, torture and displacement of people.

The non-recognition of legitimacy and condemnation of the actions by the Russian aggressor complete with the demand to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine are reflected in resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, NATO and other international organizations as well as in decisions by national governments.

Continuing its blatant violation of the UN Charter and the fundamental norms of international law, the Russian authorities are planning to hold elections of the President of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol on 18 March 2018.

The deliberately chosen date of 18 March pointedly emphasizes the cynical, revanchist and aggressive mood of the Kremlin.

We regard such intentions as an attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and a deliberate challenge to the international community and to our partners, including the signatory states to the 1994 Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The conduct of election of the President of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine is illegal, and thus their results are impossible to be recognized.

It is also worth reminding that these so-called "elections" were called by the illegitimate parliament of Russia, "elected" with illegal voting in Crimea in 2016 factored in. We emphasize that Ukraine does not recognise either the legitimacy of the illegally formed "Federal Assembly" of the Russian Federation or any of its decisions.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine urges the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, OSCE, the European Union, NATO and other international organizations, parliamentary assemblies, parliaments and governments of foreign states as follows:

1. To use all appropriate means in order to prevent the government bodies and the occupying administration of the Russian Federation from conducting the election of the President of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.

2. In the event voting takes place in the temporarily occupied part of the territory of Ukraine, to not recognize the legitimacy of the elections of the President of the Russian Federation of 18 March 2018 and his subsequent decisions, proceeding from the general principle of law ("Jus ex injuria non oritur" – the law cannot arise from the infringement of law).

3. To prevent any actions that could encourage the government bodies and the occupying administration of the Russian Federation to violate the sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as human rights and freedoms in the temporarily occupied part of its territory, and in the event of such actions taking place, to impose additional sanctions against representatives of the government bodies and occupying administration of the Russian Federation.

4. To consolidate joint efforts aimed at forcing the Russian Federation to provide international observers with access to the occupied Crimean peninsula for monitoring of violations of human rights and providing assistance to the victims of repression.