Speech by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the 5th Summit of the International Crimea Platform, 24 September 2025

President Zelenskyy, Excellencies, and Friends,

It is over three years since the launch of Russia’s full-scale, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.

11 years since this conflict began in Crimea – with Russia’s illegal annexation.

Russia could and should end its brutal war at any moment.

All it has to do is halt its attacks, accept an unconditional ceasefire and come to the negotiating table.

But it chooses not to do so and instead intensifies its air attacks against Ukraine’s towns and cities, deliberately targeting civilians and essential infrastructure.

These are not the actions of a country seeking peace.

Mr President, you and the people of Ukraine have Ireland’s full support as you stand against this brutal Russian aggression.

We cannot allow force to be the means by which international borders are defined.

We cannot return to a world where we accept that might is right – I hope that we have learnt the painful lessons of history not to allow this to happen.

The international community must stand firm in our refusal to recognise the legitimacy of Russia’s actions.

When a state transgresses international law, as we have seen with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and its illegal full-scale war against Ukraine, it threatens not only the immediate victims and those on the frontline, but also unravels the fabric that binds our global community.

Ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation and a full member of these United Nations. Like each one of us here, it must be afforded the fundamental right to peace and security and full respect for its internationally recognised borders.

Justice is not just a matter of principle, but rather it forms the very foundations from which we must build a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine.

Any peace agreement must uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter and for international law.

This includes continued recognition that Russia’s violation of these principles in Ukraine began not in 2022, but in 2014.

I am deeply concerned about the reports of human rights abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea and in all the Ukrainian territories illegally held by Russia.

Russian efforts to change the demographic composition of the peninsula, its attack on the Ukrainian language, culture and identity, and its callous suppression of the Crimean Tatar community must be strongly condemned.

Ireland welcomes and supports the New York Declaration, and I use this opportunity to reiterate Ireland’s firm condemnation of the Russian Federation’s continued aggression against Ukraine.

Ireland and the EU will always stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes.

ENDS