CITY OF OAKLAND
City Hall
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, CA 94612
Council President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao 510-238-7004 DISTRICT 4 [email protected]
Councilmember Dan Kalb 510-238-7001
DISTRICT 1 [email protected]
Date: 3/3/22
To: The Oakland City Council and Members of the Public From: Council President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao, District 4 Re: Resolution Condemning the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Members of the Oakland City Council and the Public,
The events of the last several weeks regarding Ukraine are alarming to say the least. Ukraine is a sovereign, autonomous republic with internationally recognized borders. It is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It has previously applied to be a member of the European Union and has worked in partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of which the United States is a key member.
In 2014, the Russian Federation annexed a portion of Ukraine known as the Crimean Peninsula and supported an insurrection in its Donbas region. The United States, the United Nations, and the European Union all, in one form or another, declared these actions illegitimate and dangerous. But the recent large scale Russian invasion of Ukraine represents an escalation of Russia’s illegal activity and betrays the Russian government’s outdated thinking related to international relations.
United States foreign policy maintains that sovereign democratic territorial integrity is crucial among states, and that people everywhere have the rights of self-governance and representation in their governments. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and public statements display Russian state action that respects neither of these principles. As the last week has brought the possibility of large scale conventional warfare and Cold War era tensions back into unfortunate relevance, I ask my colleagues on the Council to join me in committing the Oakland City Council to condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and reaffirming the right of any peoples to democracy and self governance.
Sincerely,
Council President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao
Councilmember Dan Kalb