Statement by Permanent Representative of Ukraine, Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko at the UNSC briefing on chemical weapons in Syria

Madam President,

First of all I wish to thank the United Kingdom and France for requesting today’s meeting and the Presidency for promptly convening it.

At the outset let me recall the Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, issued today, on the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, which reiterates, inter alia, that “the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere and under any circumstances is a blatant violation of international law and must be strongly condemned” and “those responsible for such acts must be held accountable”.

Madam President,

There appears to be no end to incessant flow of reports from Syria regarding the use of toxic chemicals as weapons. A real Pandora’s box was opened in 2012 and up to now we continue witnessing grave consequences of Syrian government actions and decisions or rather lack of them from five years ago. The genie is out of the bottle but the international community is still undecided what to do about it despite a consensus that chemical weapons’ use is unjustifiable and cannot be tolerated.

The international community, including this Council, has been very prolific and eloquent in expressing concern and condemning the use of toxic chemicals as weapons. But that’s about it. There is an astounding lack of concrete actions, and thus the gap between “talking the talk” and “walking the walk” is only growing.

Vivid images of victims, who got exposed to the poisonous gas in Idlib yesterday, serve as a loud and clear wake up call for the whole international community. They are a stark reminder to all of us in this Chamber that there is a price to be paid for any failure to act. Those innocent civilians in Idlib paid an ultimate price because this Council could not get its act together on the Syrian chemical weapons file. Those children, whose pictures we saw yesterday, fight for breath and battle suffocation because of fateful decisions made in distant capitals by people preoccupied by their own grand agendas.

Under the circumstances, repeating the usual mantra of “OPCW investigation”, “JIM involvement”, “need for the host government’s full cooperation” etc. etc. sounds hollow and, frankly, is an affront to the people of Syria. Moreover, Council’s failure to act on this issue will create false perception that perpetrators of those crimes may hide behind the wall of lies and falsifications. The hybrid wall, constructed by the Assad regime and secured by the Russian veto. This wall must be knocked down.

Today my only question is: Where is the limit to our collective tolerance that appears to have no boundaries? And as a follow up, how many more Idlibs will it take to finally move this issue?

Madam President,

Proceeding from the Council’s consolidated position that the use of chemical weapons is a flagrant violation of the international law, we believe it should act resolutely and without any delay. In this regard Ukraine supports the draft resolution presented by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, as a balanced and focused document, which introduces specific actions. We hope this important document will be adopted by the Council today. This is the least we can do to ensure that the Idlib attack is not ignored.

I thank you, Madam President.