M-213 Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty

That the House:

(a) reaffirm Canada’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty;

(b) reaffirm Canada’s condemnation of the Russian Navy’s illegal acts of aggression against Ukrainian vessels and sailors on November 25, 2018, in Ukrainian territorial waters and in the Black Sea during which Ukrainian vessels were fired upon and seized, and during which three Ukrainian sailors were gravely wounded, and 24 Ukrainian sailors, including the wounded, were detained;

(c) recognize that these acts of aggression contravened international law and the Geneva Conventions;

(d) recognize that the 24 detained Ukrainian sailors must be accorded treatment and protections conferred by the Geneva Conventions;

(e) condemn Russia’s continued illegal detention and show trials of the imprisoned sailors and has thus committed “grave breaches” of the 4th Geneva Convention, namely: “taking of hostages” and “unlawful deportation, transfer, or confinement”;

(f) condemn Russia’s continued de facto economic embargo of the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk;

(g) recognize that this Russian de facto embargo economically destabilizes the strategically critical region of Ukraine bordering the Azov Sea often referred to as a potential land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula;

(h) call upon Russia to immediately and unconditionally (i) release the 24 Ukrainian sailors, (ii) return the illegally seized Ukrainian ships and provide reparations for damages, (iii) end the boarding of commercial vessels for so-called ‘inspections’ and other naval actions which have created a de facto economic embargo of the Ukrainian sea ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk; and

(i) call for targeted sanctions against the corporate entities, holding companies and oligarchs which own and operate the Russian sea ports of Rostov-on-Don and Novorossiysk.