Statement by Mr. Petr Iliichev, Chargé d'Affaires, at the Security Council on the adoption of the resolution 2366 on the establishment of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia
The Russian delegation supported the adoption of the resolution 2366 (2017) on the establishment of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia. This new resolution symbolizes a new step on the path to consolidating sustainable peace in the country through a political process and national dialogue. This has been possible exclusively thanks to the efforts of the Colombians themselves.
We welcome the achievement by the participants of a settlement that has led to the important result of the laying down of weapons by the partisans of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), which has opened the path to their full integration into civilian life. In this regard, we note the coordinating role of the United Nations and the contribution of guarantor countries, Cuba and Norway, together with the assistance of Venezuela and Chile.
We welcomed the communiqué of the Government and the FARC of 29 May and what followed on 7 June, namely, the letter of the President of Colombia to the Security Council on the achievement of additional agreements supporting the peace process. We support the request in these documents for the launch today, 10 July, of a new phase of the special political mission, in order for the parties to be able to look to tomorrow with confidence and understand what international assistance will be provided to them.
In working on today’s resolution, we assumed that the synchronization of the Mission’s mandate with progress in the peace process would be carried out seamlessly. The current mandate of the United Nations Mission in Colombia will therefore continue to act as planned until September, and its financing and staffing will be fully maintained. At the same time, in a stepby-step fashion, the Mission will move to fulfilling isolated monitoring tasks associated with the next step. We hope that this smooth transition will allow the Mission to adapt without rush.
We will continue to carefully monitor the security situation. It is important that we do not allow a vacuum to form.
We hope that the parties will work in good faith and fulfil in a timely manner all of their obligations according to the existing agreements. For our part, we intend to continue our efforts, including along the lines of the United Nations Mission in Colombia, to support the Colombian people and Government in building a stable peace and in post-conflict development.
