Baltic countries join Ukraine to call for EU, UN action

The governments of all three Baltic countries have backed Ukraine's call for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to take place after the deaths of nearly 30 civilians in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine on Saturday after a rocket attack on a residential area. 

The Estonian Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said that Estonia condemns the rocket attack, which she attributed to pro-Russian rebels. 

"Today's Russian-backed separatists' brutal attack is a serious escalation of hostility, which is in absolute and direct violation of the Minsk agreements," Pentus-Rosimannus said. "In this situation we support Ukraine's call to immediately convene the UN Security Council to discuss the increasingly tense situation in eastern Ukraine," the Foreign Minister added.

The minister also offered her condolences to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

"Our most sincere condolences to those close to the victims and to all of the Ukrainian people," the minister said.

Latvia's Foreign Ministry also categorically condemned the actions and urged a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council to discuss how to deal with the situation. 

''It becomes increasingly obvious that pro-Moscow terrorist groups with their attacks in Mariupol and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, by targeting civilians in an inhumane and cynical manner, also demonstrate beyond doubt that Russia is not interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict,'' the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The "peace initiatives" proposed by Russia and its involvement in multilateral negotiations have possibly been only pretence intended to mask the action it is taking, the ministry argued.

''Those who trigger aggression must be aware that the international community will react decisively and firmly to escalations of the conflict, [...] 'These developments are expected to be discussed by the UN Security Council, and Latvia calls for urgently convening an extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council,'' the Latvian Foreign Ministry added.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared yesterday (25 Jan) a national day of mourning in the country. Commemorative events will also be held in the Baltic capitals: in Vilnius, there will be a ceremony held outside the national parliament, the Seimas. 

People are invited to bring candles which will be lit and placed forming the name of Mariupol. Afterwards, a procession will walk from the Seimas to the Embassy of Ukraine where candles will be lit as well. A protest will also take place today outside the Russian Embassy in Riga. 

The rocket attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol left 30 people dead and at least 95 wounded. According to Kiev, pro-Russian fighters used Grad multiple rocket launcher systems and fired on a market and residential areas. However, the separatists denied responsibility and called the accusations disinformation.