Lithuanian president criticises new UN world map for depicting Crimea separately from Ukraine
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has criticised a new political world map published by the United Nations because Russian-occupied Crimea is depicted separately from Ukraine.
As reported by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, Nausėda raised the issue during a meeting between the leaders of the Baltic states and UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York.
He stressed that maps used by the UN should comply with international law and respect countries' sovereignty, territorial integrity and recognised borders.
The president said Lithuania supports efforts to improve the accuracy and fairness of the world's cartographic representation but stressed that the UN must consistently adhere to its policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
Nausėda also said that Russia remains the main long-term threat to European and transatlantic security and that this threat extends beyond Ukraine.
"Russia's threat is not limited to Ukraine. Lithuania and other European countries are also facing violations of their borders," he stressed.
On the new UN map, Crimea is marked in grey. It is therefore shown in a different colour from both Russia and Ukraine.
In 2018, The Times had to apologise over a map depicting Crimea as part of Russia.
In 2021, following appeals from Ukraine, Apple corrected maps in its Apple Music for Artists app.
In 2023, a similar map was used in a video posted by the Hungarian government.
In 2025, US television network CBS used a map of Ukraine without occupied Crimea on air, although it did include the other occupied territories in the south and east.