Putin's War In Ukraine Highlighted iImportance Of Respecting Territorial Integrity — State Department

Washington D.C./28.03.23/Turan:    The conflict in Ukraine will be an important topic of discussion in the Summit for Democracy which will start this Wednesday, the State Department said on Monday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Of course Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine will no doubt be a topic of discussion, I’m sure," Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson, told TURAN's correspondent during a daily press briefing.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken today will chair a virtual panel session on “A Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine” featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the State Department.

Asked by TURAN whether Putin's war jeopardized the "Year of Action" following the first Democracy Summit, Patel said. "Certainly not...  What the conflict and the war in Ukraine has highlighted is the importance of respecting a rules-based order, and respecting the UN Charter, and having respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty."

The summit participants will also discuss a number of other issues at stake as well, Patel said.

He went on to add, "The defining question of this age is whether democracies will continue to deliver for their people in a rapidly changing world. And this was a summit that launched...  to put new and high-level focus on the need to strengthen democratic institutions."

The Summit of Democracy will bring together 120 countries, civil society groups and technology companies and will include strategically important nations where rights groups have expressed concerns about the state of democracy.

Alex Raufoglu