Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the UNGA plenary meeting after action on Draft Resolution A/73/L.103 “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization”

Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the UNGA plenary meeting after action on Draft Resolution A/73/L.103 “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization”

As the General Assembly has just adopted the draft resolution entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization” (CSTO), I would like to make the following statement.

Ukraine supports cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. Such cooperation is an important tool for the effective settlement of conflicts and the promotion of peace and security.

Unfortunately, we must admit that in today’s world the roles of regional organizations in maintaining peace and security are rather different.

Some of them are committed to their Charters and work to prevent, manage and resolve crises. In this regard, we welcome positive examples of such cooperation of the UN with the European Union, the African Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and many others.

These organizations have proven to be capable of taking the lead in promoting peace, security and stability.

Others — on the contrary — tend to abstain from such actions and politicize their activities because of the distractive actions of their members. In our opinion, CSTO is one of these organizations. To our disappointment, the CSTO demonstrated its complete failure not only to take appropriate measures to respond to the Russian aggression in Ukraine but even to make relevant assessment of actions of its founding member. Furthermore, majority of CSTO members, being under the influence of the Russian Federation, keep voting against any General Assembly resolution or decision aimed at countering Russian aggression.

Nowadays the CSTO has become one of the Russian Federation’s visible forays down the path of regional hegemony and as a vehicle for gaining influence among its neighbors. The CSTO is merely one of the Russian policy tools employed in the post-Soviet space.

Unfortunately, due to such position of the CSTO and its biased approach to the issues related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine cannot support provisions of the draft resolution related to the peacekeeping capabilities of the CSTO as well as its role in “providing an adequate response to a wide range of threats and challenges” and, thus, disassociates itself from consensus on these paras.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to encourage the CSTO members, specifically the Russian Federation, to implement preambular para 8 of the draft resolution and to “attain objectives consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations”.

I thank you

Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN