Lithuanian Seimas speaker: recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would threaten world order

VILNIUS – With the United States pressuring Ukraine to recognize Crimea as part of Russia in peace talks, Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis says he sees a threat to international order.

“The world order that was established after World War II, the principle of the inviolability of borders, would be broken by such a precedent. Then territorial claims could be made all over Europe,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“There is probably not a single state that does not have some kind of former conflict over territory with its neighbor,” he added.

Skvernelis emphasized that the worst thing would be for such a precedent to be “confirmed by the argument of force”.

“I seized it, and the international community recognizes that. This cannot be allowed to happen; it is a very dangerous moment that could lead to numerous regional conflicts,” the parliamentary speaker noted.

The United States, which is mediating between Russia and Ukraine, has not disclosed all the details of its plan, but it is offering to halt the invasion of Ukraine at the current front line and agree that the Crimean peninsula, annexed illegally in 2014, will be part of Russia in exchange for peace.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists that the peninsula belongs to the Ukrainian people.