The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strong protest over the participation of representatives of the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) in the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12), which is taking place on November 4 through 8 in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, with the support of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat).

We emphasize that the participation of representatives of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation in events organized or held under the auspices of international organizations, primarily UN organizations, is a flagrant violation of international law and several UN General Assembly resolutions, in particular, 68/262 “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”.

Russia is trying to use both international platforms and the territory of sovereign states, in this case, the Arab Republic of Egypt, to legitimize the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territories, deliberately provoking tension, including at the level of bilateral relations.

Despite numerous requests from the Ukrainian side, UN-Habitat has not managed to ensure proper control and define a precise mechanism for registering WUF12 participants, thus allowing criminals to participate in the event and jeopardizing the reputation of this important event.

We call on the UN Secretary-General and the leadership of UN-Habitat to take immediate measures to stop the use of the WUF12 universal technical platform and UN-Habitat, in general, to try to legitimize the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories, as well as to spread propaganda and lies by representatives of the Russian occupation administration.

We are convinced that those who committed such criminal negligence and allowed representatives of the Russian occupation administration to participate in WUF12, thereby demonstrating disrespect for the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter, can no longer enjoy the trust of UN Member States and, therefore, have the honor of working in UN-Habitat or other UN bodies.