Statement (EOV) by the delegation of Ukraine at the UN Security Council session on Colombia

Statement (EOV) by the delegation of Ukraine at the UN Security Council session on Colombia

Statement (EOV) by the delegation of Ukraine at the UN Security Council session on the issue of “Identical letters dated 19 January 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council”.

(25 January 2016)

Mr. President,

Madame Foreign Minister of Colombia,

Ukraine is very pleased to see that the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have achieved major breakthroughs in the peace process negotiations.

We welcome agreements reached by the sides on transitional justice, laying down of arms and a timetable for signing a final agreement.

The peace talks in Havana brought a historic progress toward a final peace agreement to put an end to the 50 years-old armed conflict in Colombia, the longest one in the Latin America. We applaud to the fact that peace is now closer than ever for the Colombian people. They do deserve a just and durable peace.

We also underline the important roles played by Norway and Cuba as guarantors of the peace process, as well as Chile and Venezuela as accompanying countries.

In the spirit of strong support for the Peace Process in the Republic of Colombia Ukraine welcomes the resolution adopted today. We were glad to co-sponsor this historic document. We also express our appreciation to the British delegation for their leadership and hard work in preparing the draft and conducting negotiations that led to its successful adoption.

This decision will contribute to the strengthening of the UN role in peacebuilding in post-conflict situations and will provide the support required to advance peace, human rights and development for all citizens in Colombia.

We do believe that Colombian initiative to engage the UN as the international component of the tripartite mechanism will be a success story and will help to bring stability to the region.

Such experience should be followed and replicated where applicable.

Thank you.