Russia wants to "equate" Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas with Greenland. The UN secretary general explained why not

Secretary general of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres said that the principle of a nation's right to self-determination cannot be applied to Ukraine's Crimea and Donbas. The official's words at the press conference were reported by state agency Ukrinform.

The Russian propagandist asked the official whether the Organization could consider the situation in Crimea and Donbas as one to which this principle could be applied.

"There are two important principles. The first principle is the territorial integrity of states. The other principle is the self-determination of peoples," Guterres reminded.

However, he emphasized that such self-determination can only take place if a number of necessary conditions are met and referred to the opinion of the UN Office of Legal Affairs.

The organization concluded that such an approach cannot be applied to Crimea and Donbas, as the principle of Ukraine's territorial integrity prevails in this case, the official emphasized.

The secretary general's explanation came against the backdrop of Moscow's attempts to "equate" its actions in the occupied Ukrainian territories with the situation around Greenland – a self-governing island belonging to Denmark, which US president Donald Trump wants to gain control over.

In particular, the head of Kremlin diplomacy Sergey Lavrov said that Russia has asked the UN to recognize the "right to self-determination" in the occupied territories of Ukraine, similar to Greenland.

• Meanwhile, European сommissioner Jørgensen said that the EU plans to reduce energy dependence on the United States after Trump's statements about Greenland.