Government and intergovernmental reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Government and intergovernmental reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine received widespread international condemnation, leading to new sanctions being imposed on Russia, which triggered a Russian financial crisis. Reactions among governments have generally been negative, particularly in Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia, with criticism and condemnation made by many leading nations such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain.
International organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have also voiced significant criticism of the invasion, over its not having justifiable precedent. From the early phases of the invasion, the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for nations to either establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine or provide Ukraine with air support. Zelenskyy also called for "peace", stating that he does not "want Ukraine's history to be a legend about 300 Spartans." Zelenskyy, in an address to the British House of Commons, also invoked the words of Winston Churchill by saying "We will fight at sea; we will fight in the air; we will protect our land. We will fight everywhere ... and we will not surrender."
Ukrainian officials have published photos and videos of killed and captured Russian soldiers. Some experts have argued that Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention prohibits videos of captured soldiers.
On 2 April, Zelenskyy warned Ukrainian residents that Russian forces retreating from around Kyiv were "mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed", and leaving behind "a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers."
Russia
On 26 February 2022, the Russian communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered independent media outlets to take down reports that described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an "assault, invasion, or declaration of war", threatening fines and blocks. From 1 March, Russian schools started war-themed social studies classes for teenagers based on the Russian government's position on history; one teaching manual (publicized by independent media outlet MediaZona) asserted that "genocide" had been occurring in eastern Ukraine for eight years, and that Russia was responding with a "special peacekeeping operation" in Ukraine, which was "not a war".
Russian President Vladimir Putin on 4 March declared that Russia had "absolutely no ill intentions with regard to our neighbors". Putin called for other countries to "think about normalizing relations and cooperating normally", stating there was "no need to escalate the situation, impose restrictions".
On 5 March he criticized Ukraine for resisting the invasion, saying, "they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood." Also that day, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the countries of the European Union and NATO to "stop pumping weapons" to Ukraine, claiming that terrorists might use the weapons against airplanes.
On 7 March, the Russian government adopted a list of countries and regions "taking unfriendly actions against Russia, Russian companies, and citizens" – Albania, Andorra, Australia, United Kingdom, all European Union states, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, the Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Japan.
Putin on 8 March declared that Russian "conscript soldiers are not participating in hostilities" in Ukraine "and will not participate in them". On 9 March, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that it had "discovered" Russian conscript soldiers participating in the military operation in Ukraine, and that "almost all" of these conscripts had returned to Russia, but some other conscripts had been "captured" in Ukraine.
On 9 March, Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol; Associated Press journalists on the scene took photos and videos of multiple bloodstained, pregnant mothers leaving the blown-out maternity ward. One pregnant woman and her baby died after the bombing. Russian officials provided different, shifting stances on the bombing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially stated that Russia does "not fire on civilian targets", then later said he lacked "clear information about what happened". Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized "pathetic shouting about so-called atrocities", stating that the hospital had no patients and doctors. According to him, it was controlled by Ukrainian extremists. Russia's Defense Ministry denied bombing the hospital, and accused Ukraine of staging the bombing. Russian officials called images of the attack "fake news" and labelled a pregnant woman pictured fleeing the bombed hospital as an actor.
On 16 March, a Russian airstrike hit a theatre in Mariupol containing hundreds of civilians; satellite pictures three days prior showed large words "DETI" ("children" in Russian) displayed as a signal to Russian forces about those inside the theatre. Russia's military denied bombing the theatre. Russia's foreign ministry said that it was a "lie" that Russia bombed the theatre, insisting that "Russia's armed forces don't bomb towns and cities". During the invasion, Russia used airstrikes against Ukrainian cities including Mariupol, Kyiv and Kharkiv.
On 16 March, Putin gave a speech calling Russian opponents of the war "scum and traitors," saying that "natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country."
On 25 March, the leader of the Russian military's General Staff Main Operational Directorate stated that the first stage of the operation had "generally been accomplished", and the "combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (was) considerably reduced", allowing Russia "to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbas" in eastern Ukraine. A day later, Russian forces bombed Lviv, a city in western Ukraine.
On 1 April, Russia accused Ukraine of conducting an airstrike on Russian territory; this was the first such accusation since the start of the Russian invasion. Russia said that an airstrike on a fuel depot in Belgorod had upset the peace negotiations with Ukraine.
After Russian forces occupied Bucha, Kyiv Oblast for five weeks and then withdrew, they were accused by Bucha officials of extrajudicial killings of Bucha residents. Russia's Ministry of Defense responded on 3 April that "not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions" during the Russian occupation of Bucha. This claim was contradicted by many eyewitness accounts by Bucha residents.
The Russian defence ministry suggested that corpses of dead civilians had been placed on the streets of Bucha after "all Russian units withdrew completely" from the city on 30 March, but satellite photos were taken by Maxar Technologies showed that at least 11 body-sized objects on Bucha's Yablonska Street appeared between 9 and 11 March, remaining there for more than three weeks, in the same positions as 11 civilian corpses in a 1 April video. A high-ranking Russian official, Mikhail Ulyanov, claimed that Bucha's mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk did not discuss "dead bodies in the streets" in a 31 March video, but Fedoruk on 7 March had already done so, and on 28 March, accused Russian forces of killings and rapes in Bucha.
RIA Novosti, a media outlet controlled and owned by the Russian government, published an article by Timofey Sergeytsev that declared that "Nazis who took weapons must be killed in numbers as much as possible", while "most of the [Ukrainian] people are guilty, they are passive Nazis, Nazi enablers ... and must be punished". The article also stated that Ukraine "may develop only in dependency to Russia", and that "history has proven Ukraine may not exist as a national state". On 5 April 2022, Russia's opposition politician Alexei Navalny said the "monstrosity of lies" in the Russian state media "is unimaginable. And, unfortunately, so is its persuasiveness for those who have no access to alternative information." He tweeted that "warmongers" among Russian state media personalities "should be treated as war criminals. From the editors-in-chief to the talk show hosts to the news editors, [they] should be sanctioned now and tried someday."
In July 2022, Alexei Gorinov, a member of the Krasnoselsky district council in Moscow, was sentenced to seven years in prison after making anti-war comments at a council meeting in March, including stating that "our country has aggressively attacked a neighbouring country" and "kids in Ukraine are dying each day". Lawyer Pavel Chikov said that this was the first jail term under the new Russian 2022 war censorship laws.
Other countries
The Economist, a British weekly newspaper has cited that one year since Russian invasion of Ukraine, that many countries have started to drift towards Russia, while countries such Bangladesh and Madagascar, have shifted away from Russia.
Condemns Russia
Governments in exile
Non UN members
Leans to Ukraine
While these countries have taken some neutral positions, in general they have been described as being supportive of Ukraine.
Neutral countries
Non UN members
Leans to Russia
Many of these countries are described as neutral but have remained friendly with the Russian Federation ever since it was isolated by the international community.
Supports Russia
Non UN members
Expulsion of diplomats
More than a dozen countries expelled Russian diplomats following the invasion, citing espionage activities incompatible with diplomatic status, and then also Russian killing of civilians in the Bucha massacre. Additionally, the European Union declared 19 Russian diplomats personae non-gratae.
Intergovernmental and international organizations
– Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the Russian invasion was "the saddest moment in my tenure" and called on Putin to withdraw his troops "in the name of humanity". On 25 February, the Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution which would have "deplored, in the strongest terms, the Russian Federation's aggression" on Ukraine. Of the 15 member states on the Security Council, 11 were in support, whilst three abstained from voting. The draft resolution failed due to a Russian veto. Due to the deadlock, the Security Council passed a resolution to convene the General Assembly for the eleventh emergency special session. On 2 March, the General Assembly voted to deplore "in the strongest possible terms" Russia's aggression against Ukraine by a vote of 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. The resolution also called for the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine" and "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces." Only Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea voted against the resolution. On 4 March, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution by a vote of 32 to 2, with 13 abstentions, calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and Russian-backed armed groups from Ukraine and humanitarian access to people in need. The resolution also established a commission to investigate alleged rights violations committed during Russia's military attack on Ukraine. On 23 March, the UN Security Council failed to back a Russian humanitarian resolution calling for the protection of civilians and their safe passage. It was criticised by French and American representatives for not mentioning Russia's role in the ongoing crisis. On 24 March, the UN General Assembly voted 140 to 5 in favor of a resolution approving aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine, which again criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On 7 April, the UN General Assembly voted 93–24, with 58 abstentions, to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
– Chairman of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki and Chair of the African Union and Senegalese president Macky Sall called on Russia and "any other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine" and urged both parties to the conflict to establish an immediate ceasefire and start political negotiations without delay.
Arctic Council – On 3 March, all member states of the Arctic Council besides Russia (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States) released a joint statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a flagrant violation of the organization's "core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity". They also noted, "the grave impediments to international cooperation, including in the Arctic, that Russia's actions have caused". The seven members announced they would no longer attend meetings of the Council in Russia, which currently holds the organization's rotating chairmanship.
– Foreign ministers of ASEAN expressed grave concern over Russia-Ukraine tensions and urged maximum restraint and dialogue.
Baltic Assembly – The Baltic Assembly published a statement in which it "firmly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine".
– A statement issued on behalf of the Caribbean Community condemned the invasion of Ukraine and demanded an "immediate and complete withdrawal" of Russia's military from Ukraine.
– The Committee of Ministers passed a resolution that "condemned in the strongest terms the armed attack on Ukraine" and called for Russia to "immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations" On 25 February, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe suspended Russia from its rights of representation in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly. In the following days, the European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures indicating to Russia that it should refrain from military attacks against civilians and civilian objects and should ensure access to safe evacuation routes, healthcare, food and other essential supplies, rapid and unconstrained passage of humanitarian aid, and movement of humanitarian workers. Russia accused NATO and EU members of having undermined the Council of Europe, and announced its intention to withdraw from the organisation. On 15 March, Russia notified the council of its decision to withdraw and to denounce the European Convention on Human Rights by the end of 2022. The following day, the Committee of Ministers decided to expel Russia from the Council of Europe with immediate effect.
– President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen tweeted; "We will not let President Putin tear down Europe's security architecture" and Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell called on Putin to stop the "senseless aggression". President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola called for "immediate, quick, solid and swift action" and convened an extraordinary session of Parliament for 1 March.
Economic Community of West African States – ECOWAS released a statement that condemned the invasion and called for both parties to stop the fighting. Instead, ECOWAS urged for both parties to use dialogue to solve differences for sake of the interest of peace in the region.
International Criminal Court – Neither Ukraine nor Russia are parties to the Rome Statute, however, the Ukrainian government has voluntarily accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court since 2015 for any possible war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory since 20 February 2014. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmad Khan, issued a statement on 25 February reminding all parties involved that the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has jurisdiction to investigate any act of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity and that "any person who commits such crimes, including by ordering, inciting, or contributing in another manner to the commission of these crimes, may be liable to prosecution before the Court." Khan issued a follow-up statement on 28 February that the OTP had a reasonable basis to begin an investigation under article 15(3) of the Rome Statute pending approval from the Pre-Trial Chamber of the court. The approval requirement was bypassed after 39 states parties referred the situation in Ukraine to the OTP and the formal investigation commenced on 2 March. On 17 March 2023, International Criminal Court Issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova.
International Energy Agency – On 25 February, the IEA's thirty-one member countries "expressed great concern over the destruction and loss of life" and said they would closely monitor impacts on energy markets. In response to the threat the Russian invasion posed to global oil markets, on 1 March the IEA Governing Board authorized the release of 61.7 million barrels of oil from member countries' strategic petroleum reserves. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said, "The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention. Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of recovery." On 1 April, the Governing Board announced a second release of emergency oil stocks, making another 120 million barrels available for oil markets.
– Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the attack and called it a "grave breach of international law". A separate statement announced an intention to deploy defensive forces and condemned Belarus for enabling the attack. On 8 March, Stoltenberg warned that "if there is any attack against any NATO country, NATO territory, that will trigger Article 5" of the North Atlantic Treaty. On 13 March, Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned of a full-fledged NATO response if Russia hit any part of NATO territory.
– President Erkki Tuomioja condemned the invasion as "completely unjust" and stated that it was "contrary to both international law and the order of European security."
– The OAS condemned the attack as an affront to mankind and an attack on civilised international relations. On 21 April OAS voted to suspend Russian permanent observer status in the organization. 25 nations voted in favour, 8 abstained and none voted against the motion.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – The OECD Council formally terminated accession negotiations with Russia and ordered the closure of OECD offices in Moscow.
– OSCE Chairman Zbigniew Rau and Secretary General Helga Schmid issued a joint statement on 24 February 2022 condemning the invasion. All international members of the multi-national OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, which had been deployed in the country since 21 March 2014, were evacuated beginning 24 February. A Ukrainian member of the OSCE mission, Maryna Fenina, was killed on 1 March during the shelling of Kharkiv.
Pacific Islands Forum – In a statement, the Pacific Islands Forum condemned the invasion, saying "observed from afar the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as Russia's blatant disregard for international law."
NATO
Following the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, eight NATO member states – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia – triggered security consultations under Article 4. The Estonian government issued a statement by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas saying: "Russia's widespread aggression is a threat to the entire world and to all NATO countries, and NATO consultations on strengthening the security of the Allies must be initiated to implement additional measures for ensuring the defence of NATO Allies. The most effective response to Russia's aggression is unity." On 24 February, Stoltenberg announced new plans that "will enable us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the NATO Response Force, to where they are needed". Following the invasion, NATO announced plans to increase military deployments in the Baltics, Poland, and Romania.
After the 25 February UN Security Council meeting, Stoltenberg announced that parts of the NATO Response Force would be deployed, for the first time ever, to NATO members along the eastern border. He stated that forces would include elements of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), led by France. The US announced on 24 February that it would deploy 7,000 troops to join the 5,000 already in Europe. NATO forces included the 's Carrier Strike Group 8, which entered the Mediterranean Sea the previous week as part of a planned exercise. The carrier strike group was placed under NATO command, the first time this had occurred since the Cold War.
As Russia began to build forces on Ukraine's border in the lead-up to the invasion, Finland and Sweden, both neutral states, increased their cooperation with NATO. Both countries attended the emergency NATO summit as members of NATO's Partnership for Peace, and both condemned the invasion and provided assistance to Ukraine. On 25 February, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova threatened Finland and Sweden with "military and political consequences" if they attempted to join NATO. Both Finnish and Swedish public opinion shifted in favour of joining NATO after the invasion. A public petition asking the Parliament of Finland to hold a referendum to join NATO reached the required 50,000 signatures, prompting a parliamentary discussion on 1 March.
On 8 March, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that "any attack against any NATO country [or] NATO territory ... will trigger Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. On 11 March, Biden proclaimed that while the United States would, as part of NATO, "defend every single inch of NATO territory with [its] full might", NATO would not "fight a war against Russia in Ukraine", as such "direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must strive to prevent".
On 13 March, Jake Sullivan, the United States National Security Advisor to President Biden, warned of a full-fledged NATO response if Russia were to hit any part of NATO territory. Sullivan added on 22 March, during Biden's trip to Europe to discuss updating NATO's posture towards Russia, that Biden would emphasize three key issues: new sanctions against Russia and tightening existing sanctions, longer-term adjustments to NATO force posture and contingencies in the case of nuclear weapons use, and 'joint action' on enhancing energy security in Europe, which is highly reliant on Russian gas. Zelenskyy repeatedly urged NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which was rejected by the organization as it would involve shooting down Russian aircraft, an act that would significantly escalate the war to involve NATO.
On 16 March, a meeting of NATO defence ministers agreed to continue supplying Ukraine with military, financial and humanitarian aid, though Stoltenberg ruled out the deployment of forces in Ukraine or a no-fly-zone, saying NATO has "a responsibility" not to escalate the war beyond Ukraine.
Upon his arrival for the 2022 Brussels extraordinary summit on 24 March, Biden increased the amount of new aid offered to Ukraine by one billion dollars and announced added guarantees for NATO obligations to protect all NATO-allied nations which border Ukraine. On 28 March, Biden, at the end of his NATO trip to Europe, reaffirmed his condemnation of Putin, saying that he would "'make no apologies'" for previously stating that "'Putin cannot remain in power'". On 29 March, Kallas sided with Biden's condemnation and called for the further isolation of Putin from international politics. As part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence, NATO countries agreed to establish four multinational battalion-sized battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, on top of four existing battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
On 6 and 7 April, foreign ministers from NATO member states as well as Ukraine, the European Union, Finland, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand and Australia convened to discuss further sanctions on Russia and additional arms deliveries to Ukraine.
European Union
On 27 February 2022, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union would ban Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik in response to disinformation and their coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. She also said that the EU would finance the purchase and delivery of military equipment to Ukraine and proposed a ban on Russian aircraft using EU airspace. The following day, the Council of the European Union adopted two assistance measures to strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities. The measures, for a total value of €500 million, financed the provision of military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces including – for the first time in EU history – weapons and other lethal equipment.
On 28 February, the EU imposed a ban on transactions with the Russian Central Bank and a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Russian carriers. On 2 March, a SWIFT ban for certain Russian banks was adopted, ensuring that they were disconnected from the international financial system, and the broadcasting activities in the EU of the outlets Sputnik and RT were suspended. On 10 March, additional measures targeting the Belarusian financial sector were agreed upon, and the EU imposed restrictive measures, including an asset freeze and a travel ban on 160 prominent businesspeople ("oligarchs") and members of the Russian Federation Council. At the onset of the war, similar measures had already been applied on members of Russia's Security Council and Duma, and on other individuals.
On 15 March, the EU decided to impose a fourth package of economic and individual sanctions, including trade restrictions for iron, steel, and luxury goods. The European Commission claimed that restricting steel imports could lead to a loss of €3.3 billion in revenue for Russia, and von der Leyen explained that the EU was working to suspend Russia's membership rights in multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. On 23 March, the Council decided to double the funding for the Ukrainian armed forces, bringing the total amount from €500 million to €1 billion. On 1 April, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola visited Kyiv to "show the EU's support for Ukraine" and to meet with Ukrainian officials.
On 8 April, the EU passed the fifth round of sanctions, which included an embargo on Russian coal, restrictions on Russian-flagged ships in EU ports, restrictions on Russian and Belarusian road transport in the EU, a ban on four Russian banks, export bans of high-tech goods and expanded sanctions on family members of individuals already sanctioned. The same day, a delegation including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and prime minister of Slovakia Eduard Heger visited Ukraine. Von der Leyen presented Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a questionnaire to join the EU; she also visited the city of Bucha to observe the aftermath of the Bucha massacre. Borrell announced that the EU delegation to Ukraine, headed by Matti Maasikas, would return to Kyiv after it was evacuated at the outbreak of war.
International Criminal Court
On 17 March 2023, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin for war crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among the charges includes having the taking of Ukrainian children by Russian forces. In addition to Putin, ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Russia's Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
See also
Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis
2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus
Corporate responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
List of companies that applied sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Legality of Russian invasion of Ukraine
Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine
List of military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
International recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic
Notes
References
External links
Archive of the Kremlin's official websites when hacked by Anonymous
2022 in international relations
Reactions to 2020s events
International reactions to armed conflicts
Articles containing video clips