Skopje, 23 August 2022 — North Macedonia supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and has joined the European Union's sanctions against the Russian Federation and efforts to prevent further human rights violations in Ukraine and protect the Ukrainian people, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said in his address to the Second Summit of the Crimea Platform held online on Tuesday.  "I am here to confirm the strong and unequivocal support of the Republic of North Macedonia for the unifying character of Ukraine, for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for the inviolability of its borders," Prime Minister Kovachevski said. "Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an impermissible violation of international law. We strongly condemn the military attacks on Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the crimes committed by Russian forces against the civilian population,” he said, pointing out that North Macedonia has joined all EU restrictions and sanctions against the Russian Federation. “Guns and tanks should be relegated to history. Diplomacy and pens are the means of understanding at 21st century negotiating tables, because peace is humankind’s most powerful weapon,” the prime minister added. "The Republic of North Macedonia, as a member and future chairman of the OSCE, remains fully committed to supporting the efforts toward multilateralism overcoming militarism," Kovachevski said, urging the Russian Federation to immediately stop the unprovoked and unjustified invasion against Ukraine. In addition to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Smyhal, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and representatives from Crimea, participants included heads of state and government of NATO and EU members. Among them were French President Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Minister of Defense Slavjanka Petrovska and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatmire Isaki also attended the online summit. mr/