Forum:
The Security Council
Issue:
The question of the territorial integrity of the Crimean peninsula and
other former Soviet Republics
Student Officer: Saachi Ahluwalia & Nadia Bahemia
Position:
Deputy Chair
Introduction
The Russia Federation has been constantly trying to intervene with its neighbouring countries for
over 200 years; in attempt to protect the people of Russian descent and therefore been undermining the
fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of ex-Soviet states. For a long time the
Russia Federation has been deploying troops in its neighbouring states with small minorities of Russian
population in the regions. Examples of this are the Crimean peninsula, Moldova’s breakaway the
Transdniestria region and the Donbass region to the east of Ukraine. These regions all face the pressing
issue of the Russian government’s claim of protecting Russian descendants and therefore have to face
Russian hostility and aggression towards each of their local governments. As a result, maintaining
territorial integrity has been questioned time and again due to Russian Military intervention in other
countries, clearly defying international law.
More recently, the Russian Federation has deployed troops and sent military equipment to
Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, where the majority of the population
considers itself Russian. Violent disputes between the Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian rebel
groups have developed cities into battle zones. During these heavy clashes within the region there has
been evidence to suggest that Russian troops and military invaded the Ukrainian region without the
permission of the Ukrainian government. Allegedly, the Russian troops entered the region to fight
alongside the pro-Russian rebel groups acting against the Ukrainian government. Russia has been
accused by Ukraine and various other Western countries of financially supporting and backing these
rebel groups, yet the Russian government has denied all charges.
The annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russia Federation and the Crimean referendum
are all contributing factors to the fear of ex-Soviet countries. A referendum to solve the legal status of the
Crimean peninsula was held on March 16th 2014, which gave the option to the Ukrainian people of
secession of Crimea from Ukraine. More than ninety six percent of the people in the region voted for the
integration of Ukraine with Russia. However, U.N. General Assembly Resolution 68/262, on the legal
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status of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, condemned the referendum and considered Crimea as a part of
Ukraine’s borders. Following these series of events, Russian troops occupied the Crimean peninsula.
In addition to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation another ex-Soviet republic,
Moldova, has been having the same difficulties as Crimea due to the breakaway territory known as
Transdniestria. The region gained its independence in 1992 after serious conflict between Russians and
the central government. Ever since, because of the 200,000 people living within the Transdniestria
region are ethnic Russians and hold Russian citizenship, Russia has used this excuse to deploy troops
to the region to protect their fellow Russians from armed conflict. After the Crimean referendum, the
region demanded a plebiscite to define its legal status as many of its residents are ethnic Russians and
favour integration with Russia, an act the Moldovan government strongly opposes.
Definition of Key Terms
Annexation
The occupation of a territory with the intention to subject it to the rule of one’s government.
Referendum
A vote by all people in a country on a single political question, which has been referred to them
for a direct decision
Sovereignty
The independent authority of a state to govern itself or another state.
Plebiscite
The direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question such as a
change in the constitution.
Occupation
An occupation is the invasion or intrusion of a country or a region with armed forces by means of
seizing or taking over an area. In the case of Ukraine, they suffered from a military invasion by Russian
forces into Crimea, the eastern peninsula in Ukraine, by means of claiming it as part of the Russian
Sovereignty.
Background Information
The Russian Federation has been actively involved in Crimea for over two hundred years, as
Crimea only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when the Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev, an ethnic
Ukrainian, decided to give them Crimea. Hence Ukraine only gained Crimea through its integration into
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the USSR, and in 1991, once the USSR fell, Crimea joined the independent state of Ukraine The
Russian Federation has been involved in Crimea ever since. About 56% of the Russian population saw
Crimea still as a part of Russia, and believed Nikita Khrushchev’s move was dishonest.
Crimea consists of various ethnicities, roughly 60% of the population are ethnic Russians, 23%
are ethnic Ukrainian, and 11% are Crimean Tartar – who are the area’s Muslim ethnic group – and are
considered strongly anti-Russian. About 60% of the population speak Russian, and a vast number of
Crimeans hold Russian citizenship
In March this year, Vladimir Putin signed a declaration stating the Crimea was a sovereign stateand later held a referendum to decide upon Crimea’s fate. On March 16th, more than 96% of the
population voted for the joining of Russia during the referendum. The UN tried to stop the annexation of
the Crimean region to Russia on the 15th of March through a Security Council resolution condemning
the referendum, however this was vetoed by Russia, scrapping the possibility of third party entry into
Crimea to settle the situation.
After weeks of threats from the White House to Moscow and vice versa about the dispute for
Crimea, Ukraine decided to hold elections, supervised by the United Nations to ensure transparency and
to make sure no bias involved for an election to take place, Petro Poroshenko then entered into power
on the 25th of May as the President of Ukraine. Following the election, days later Poroshenko launched
an anti-corruption plan to in order to suppress violent separatists. Putin did not like the idea of this at all,
he therefore then communicated that he would accept talks with the new Ukrainian government as long
as the attacks on pro-Russian separatists were stopped. Even though Ukrainian president Poroshenko
did not accept this at first, a joint effort emerged eventually between Poroshenko and Putin to put an end
to the deadly fighting in the East.
Furthermore, the presence of the Russian Federation’s troops within Transdnestrian is still a
concerning issue. Andrei Stratan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova stated in his speech during
the 12th OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Sofia that "The presence of Russian troops on the territory
of the Republic of Moldova is against the political will of Moldovan constitutional authorities and defies
the unanimously recognized international norms and principles, being qualified by Moldovan authorities
as a foreign military occupation illegally deployed on the territory of the state". Since 2007, Russia has
protested that it has fulfilled those obligation and claims that the remaining of the troops are serving as
peacekeeping forces which was authorized under the 1992 ceasefire and therefore are not in violation of
the Istanbul accords and will remain until the conflict is fully resolved. More recently, in 2011, U.S.
Senator John McCain declared during a visit to Moldova that Moscow is violating the territorial integrity of
Moldova and Georgia and one of the "fundamental norms" of "international behaviour".
Major Countries and Organisations Involved
Crimea:
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At the North Coat of the Black sea, to the border of Ukraine stands Crimea. Crimea is an
autonomous republic within Ukraine, meaning that they essentially govern themselves. There is a
parliament and a Council of Ministers which is approved by the president, but other than this they are
free to decide on their own rules in environmental, labour and infrastructural issues, provided they are in
accordance with the Ukrainian constitution.
60% of Crimea's population see themselves as Russian and the rest as Ukrainian. This is
caused by the fact that Crimea is geographically placed at the northern coast of the Black sea, hence at
the west of the Russian region of Kuban.
Ukraine:
Situated in Eastern Europe, with the capital of Kiev, it is one of the main players in this issue,
because of the fact that it is where the majority of the protests took place. Ukraine became a country in
1991 after the collapse of the USSR, this lead to their questionable political stability, as many of the
cities remain pro-Russian.
Russian Federation:
The Russian Federation is a key member in this crisis, as a large majority of Crimea’s population
believe they are more Russian than Ukrainian. Vladimir Putin tried various ways to obtain Crimea, such
as offering to buy off $15 billion of the Ukrainian debt and reducing gas supply to 1/3. He also sent
troops to Crimea, under the justification of “self-defence forces”
United States of America:
USA has been in strong opposition to Russia’s actions, hence they stand with the Protestors of
Kiev. They encourage the sanctions to be imposed on Russia after Russia increased its actions, to
condemn their actions and the annexation of Crimea.
NATO:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is an intergovernmental military Alliance, based on the
North Atlantic Treaty signed in 1949. They were strongly against the Russian actions, and condemned
them- and believed the referendum held was illegal. They urged for a peaceful solution, and highlighted
the need for an inclusive political process for both sides of the issue.
Timeline of Events
Date:
Description of Events:
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November 2013
Over 100,000 participants in large demonstrations takes place in Kiev
December 2013
Protesters occupy the town hall of Kiev
22 February 2014
Protesters take over political control in Kiev and call the end of the
presidential power
27-28 February
Pro-Russian forces in Crimea take control of buildings of strategic
2014
importance
1 March 2014
Russia’s duma allows Putin to use force in order to protect Russian
interests in Ukraine
15/16 March 2014:
Russia first uses its veto in the Security Council to stop a critical resolution
on the Crimea issue, 97% vote in favour of secession of Crimea and the
proposal to join Russia
17 March 2014
First sanctions on Russia imposed by EU and USA
Previous Attempts to solve the Issue and Possible Solutions
Solutions to this issue have been focused on sanctions, mainly economic to condemn the
Crimean referendum and annexation to Russia. The Ukrainian constitution acts as a possible source for
a resolution, whereby Article 17 clearly sates the right to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Ukraine
To ensure a diplomatic solution, peace talks between Ukrainian representatives and Russian
representatives must be held, to ensure a diplomatic stance is taken. Neutral members such as UN
representatives should attend these talks, to ensure fairness, and act as a buffer between both states. It
is important to consider what is at stake for the region, and also the example which would be set if
Crimea is recognized as a part of Russia.
Relevant Treaties

Resolution 68/262, March 27th 2014 (A/RES/68/262)

Resolution 11493, March 27th 2014 (GA/11493)
Bibliography
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