Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Mr.Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council on the renewal of the MONUSCO mandate in the DRC

The Russian Federation supported the adoption of resolution 2409 (2018), which renews the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) for one year.

When drafting the resolution, we took into account the overall situation in the country, the assessments by regional Powers and the views of the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We hope that holding the elections on 23 December, as scheduled, will help to reduce tensions in the country. We welcome the measures that the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have undertaken in preparation for the December elections, including the passing of a new electoral law, finalization of the revised electoral lists, Parliament’s approval of an electoral budget and publication of the election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In the light of comments that have already made today on the subject of elections, we would like to note that one of the core principles of resolution 2409 (2018) is respect for the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In that regard, there should be no attempts to impose solutions to electoral issues on Kinshasa. That also applies to discussions on the issue of using voting machines.

During the critical pre-election period we call on MONUSCO’s leadership to keep strictly to the mandate set forth in the resolution adopted today.

We would like to recall that pursuant to resolution 2409 (2018), the protection of civilians during the electoral process must be carried out with full respect for the core principles of peacekeeping and without interfering in Kinshasa’s domestic affairs. It will be crucial to avoid any possibility of a situation in which MONUSCO will be supporting one of the Congolese parties, especially especially under the pretext of combatting violence surrounding the elections.