Statement by Mr. Petr Iliichev, Chargé d'Affaires, at the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East
We thank the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, for his comprehensive briefing. We also thank the American delegation for convening today’s event. However, we would like to express our categorical disagreement with the attempt to tailor this meeting to the domestic American context and exclusively to American foreign policy objectives.
For example, in the concept note (S/2017/305, annex) prepared for this meeting, whose topic has traditionally read, “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, our American colleagues have remained silent on the Palestinian issue. Moreover, in the document prepared by the United States delegation we do not find any reflection of the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham, Jabhat Al-Nusra and other extremists and terrorist groups of all kinds, nor of the fact that civilians in Syria, Iraq and Libya continue to suffer from the excesses committed by those groups. The terrorist acts that they have carried out cause death far beyond the borders of the region.
Perhaps the authors of the concept note do not have any objections to that phenomenon. Indeed, we are invited to label those who are fighting those groups in Syria as terrorists. The authors advise the Security Council to think about “who are the regional players that most benefit from the chaos in the region?” But we have a question as well: Should we not search for such players beyond the region?
In point of fact, one should proceed from the premise that the Palestinian-Israeli problem and — in a broader context — the Arab-Israeli settlement should remain at the centre of the regional agenda and of the international community’s attention. Without a solution to that long-standing conflict, a long-term and stable stabilization of the entire Middle East is impossible. Despite the fact that other fierce and destructive wars are aflame in the region, the situation demands that the Security Council not lose sight of the need to search for ways to establish a formula to ensure the peaceful and safe coexistence in the region of two States — Israel and Palestine. We must not forget the lamentable plight of the Palestinians and the high level of violence in Israel and on the occupied Palestinian territories.
The current situation with regard to the PalestinianIsraeli question remains extremely complex. Various incidents in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as periodic tensions around the Gaza Strip, show that the risks of the escalation of the conflict remain high. One of the reasons for the growth of extremist feelings among Palestinians has been the unilateral actions by Israel. Those actions have sought to create irreversible facts on the ground, including the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.
In that regard, we would like to recall that Russia voted in favour of resolution 2334 (2016). In so doing, we assumed that its content would be based on tried and tested formulae. We think that that resolution sends a clear signal that unilateral actions are unacceptable — either by Israel or by the Palestinians — as would be any actions that pre-empt the outcome of the peace negotiations. It also states that it is important that we preserve the prospects for a two State solution
Together, we must look for a way to intensify the work on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. We support the coordination of international efforts on the Middle East settlement, based on tried and tested mechanisms and those approved by Security Council resolutions, primarily the Middle East Quartet of international mediators. Our initiative to organize a personal meeting in Moscow between Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu remains on the table. We hope that, despite the possible domestic political considerations, the leaders of Israel and Palestine will demonstrate commitment to a peaceful settlement and will start direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
On 6 April, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement in support of the two-State solution, stressing the imperative of creating a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders. We recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of that State. At the same time, the Russian leadership took a decision to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. We think that that step is consistent with the well-known international legal basis for a Middle East settlement. In practical terms, our recognition of West Jerusalem will not, however, change anything until the parties agree on all final status issues, including the future of Jerusalem. We intend to keep our Embassy in Tel Aviv.
A most serious problem in the Middle East is that of terrorism, which has assumed unprecedented dimensions. It is spreading towards Africa, Asia and Europe. Unilateral actions are futile, something that we have already seen on numerous occasions. We must solve such problems together within the United Nations. Unfortunately, owing to the numerous violations and disregard for the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations, such as the independence and the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their internal affairs and the peaceful settlement of disputes, the situation in many previously stable countries of the Middle East has become horrifying. For instance, the consequences of the occupation of Iraq, which was initiated under what was clearly a false pretext, continue to impose a heavy burden on the people of that country.
We have also seen the heavy-handed manipulation of Security Council mandates, which has resulted in the destruction and unrelenting chaos in Libya, the methodical incitement of the internecine war in Syria, and the connivance in escalating the spiral of violence and mutual hostility in Yemen. All of those unhealed scars will long remind us of the perniciousness of the ideology of exclusiveness and of the drive to decide the fate of other States and peoples.
In conclusion, I would like to draw the Council’s attention to the fact that the destabilization of the situations in the Middle East and North Africa is having a very serious effect on Christians and other religious minorities who live in those areas. Extremists are using violence against those religious minorities so as to incite sectarian strife, which contributes to filling the ranks of the extremists and allows them to benefit from the persisting conflicts in the region. For our part, we will continue our efforts to prevent attacks on Christians and breakdowns in the relations between civilizations and religions.
In that context, we should consider the joint statement made by Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Cyril and Pope Francis to take immediate steps to stop the mass exodus of Christians from the Middle East. There was also a meeting in Tashkent on 7 April, at which a joint declaration was adopted by the Foreign Ministers of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, condemning discrimination and intolerance directed against Christians, Muslims and members of other faiths. We hope that we can serve as an example for other United Nations Member States.
