Виступ делегації України на відкритих дебатах РБ ООН щодо співпраці між ООН та регіональними організаціями

Mr. President,

Let me begin by wishing the delegation of Cote-d’Ivoire all the success in presiding over the Council during the extremely busy month of December.

I would also like to express our appreciation for your initiative to convene today’s discussion on the role on international actors in prevention and resolution of conflicts, which is the subject of a particular importance for my delegation.

Before delivering a few remarks in the national capacity I’d like to say that Ukraine aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the European Union.

Mr. President,

Facing the ongoing military aggression, Ukraine firmly believes in the need to strengthen existing instruments and further improve and fine-tune applicable practices at the disposal of the international community in order to increase efficiency of our collective efforts in prevention and resolution of conflicts.

It is especially pertinent in today’s world, where the atmosphere of trust and confidence is extremely difficult to come by. Instead, bellicose and confrontational policies and actions set the tone for discussions and interactions.

There is no doubt that the United Nations as a universal body enjoying the unique level of legitimacy has to be as active as possible in preventing potential conflicts and addressing the ongoing ones.

As the previous Secretary-General stated in the report on the UN and conflict prevention back in 2015, “while the Member States bear the primary responsibility for conflict prevention, the United Nations, with its universal membership, impartiality and the legitimacy derived from the principles of the Charter, has an important and unique role to play”.

And the UN did play its role in different regions in different times. At the same time, in a few cases it was notably absent. This, in our opinion, means that the UN’s potential is not being utilized to the fullest. It also means that the UN has to step up its efforts in the areas of both prevention and resolution of conflicts.

In this regard, from the perspective of a European country, we would like to see a more robust practical cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It is highly commendable that the practice of having yearly briefings by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to this Council has been established. Annual staff-level meetings also contribute to building closer ties between the two organizations. Yet, the practical cooperation is rather limited.

We believe that the two sides could benefit greatly from a closer partnership. The OSCE remains at the forefront of international efforts to contribute to the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Its Special Monitoring Mission has become, in effect, an indispensable part of the political efforts to find a solution of the conflict. Mission’s reports serve as a valuable source of information on the real situation in the temporally occupied areas of Ukraine, marked with significant Russian presence and regular inflows of modern Russian weaponry through the uncontrolled segment of the Ukraine-Russia state border.

The idea of establishing a full-fledged UN Security Council — mandated peacekeeping operation in the occupied areas of the Donbas region of Ukraine is still on the table. If it comes to fruition, the eventual multinational presence, when implementing its tasks, will also have to closely coordinate with and support the work of the OSCE, including by creating proper security conditions for unhindered implementation by the SMM of its mandate.

Mr. President,

We are convinced that confidence building measures constitute an important step in a process towards a politico-diplomatic resolution of any conflict.

From this perspective, a release by the Russian Federation of all Ukrainian political prisoners and illegally detained persons, including the crews of the three Ukrainian Navy vessels captured on 25 November in international waters in the Black Sea, will be a crucial benchmark for assessing Moscow’s readiness to embark on the de-escalation path.

What is also needed in order to make progress towards the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is to create a solid security foundation, which should involve not only concrete measures and steps in the conflict affected areas of Donbas, but, as well, de-escalation of the situation in the Black Sea — Azov Sea region. The latter includes immediate release by Russia of 24 Ukrainian prisoners of war and return of the vessels seized in the Black Sea on 25 November, as well as restoration of the freedom of navigation through the Kerch Strait and in the Sea of Azov.

We believe that the OSCE and its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine with support of the Normandy format countries and other partners can play an indispensable role in this.

On our part, we are ready for constructive negotiations to find a solution to the conflict. We will also welcome productive and result-oriented contributions to the process from the UN, the OSCE, the Normandy Format countries, other partners.

Mr. President,

In closing, my delegation strongly believes that strengthening UN conflict prevention and resolution capacities, expanding its respective toolbox, encouraging and supporting its cooperation with relevant regional organizations on these issues is a worthy goal to pursue by UN member states.

I thank you