Questioning Crimea’s status is opening gates of hell — Lithuanian MFA

His words were quoted by LRT.  

The Lithuanian minister believes that recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea would violate the principles of international law and would send a signal to other aggressors to retain illegally seized territories.  

“By questioning the principles of international law, by questioning the status of Crimea, we are opening the gates of hell, from which devils will crawl out, from which no one will return. And this would mean that the influence of the United States and their ability to set certain rules, which stem from their superpower status, would be sharply diminished,” Budrys said.

He added that in this way, the international order would be destroyed. According to him, this situation is beneficial for Moscow, as it brings public attention to disagreements between the U.S. and the EU.  

“It’s not about what Putin is doing, has done, or intends to do. In this sense, all communication should be aligned, as it does not contribute to the desired outcome,” the Lithuanian Foreign Minister explained.

• On April 23, representatives of Ukraine, the U.S., the UK, and France were to hold talks in London regarding a possible ceasefire agreement with Russia.  
• The Washington Post later reported that the U.S. is proposing to recognize annexed Crimea as Russian and to freeze the front line.  
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea, commenting on media reports that the U.S. plans to propose this on April 23 in London.  
• Meanwhile, Donald Trump said that the situation for Ukraine is dire. According to him, Zelenskyy’s statement that Kyiv will not recognize the occupation of Crimea is harmful for negotiations with the Russians.  
• At the same time, the Financial Times wrote that the Trump administration proposed a plan to Kyiv to end the war, which includes abandoning NATO membership and recognizing Crimea as part of Russia. These proposals have drawn sharp criticism from the EU.