РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the decision of the NSDC of Ukraine on the application of sectoral sanctions to the Republic of Nicaragua for five years

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Tuesday by 322 votes supported the Resolution “On approval of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of February 1, 2021 “On the application of sectoral special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to the Republic of Nicaragua”.

The sanctions were imposed for a period of five years.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov presented the draft Resolution.

Mr. Danilov noted that in the summer of 2019, the government of the Republic of Nicaragua took hostile actions against our state, namely implemented the initiative to open the so-called “honorary consulate of Nicaragua” in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has repeatedly sent appeals to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua demanding to cancel its illegal decision, but the official Managua ignored the appeal of the Ukrainian side.

“Deliberately ignoring Ukraine’s official warnings, President of the Republic of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega Saavedra by the Decree № 76-2020 of August 3, 2020, appointed Belaventsev Oleg Yevhenovych the so-called “Honorary Consul of Nicaragua in the Republic of Crimea”, who on March 18, 2019, by the verdict of the Sviatoshyn District Court of Kyiv was found guilty of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, inciting treason and waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, and sentenced to 13 years in prison”, - the NSDC Secretary said adding that on November 10, 2020, the Republic of Nicaragua illegally opened an honorary consulate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

These steps, he said, are a gross violation of Ukrainian law and international law, in particular, UN General Assembly Resolutions 68/262 “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”, 71/205, 72/190, 73/263, 74/168 and 75/192 “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”, as well as 73/194, 74/17 and 75/29 “Problem of the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov”.

Mr. Danilov stressed that there is an urgent need to respond to threats to the national interests and national security of Ukraine by applying sectoral special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to the Republic of Nicaragua in response to its hostile actions.

Additionally: On October 9, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Order № 1271-p “On Proposals for the Application of Sectoral Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions) to the Republic of Nicaragua” for a period of five years. Under Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions”, the government submitted these proposals to the NSDC of Ukraine.