Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Mr. Petr Iliichev, Chargé d'Affaires, at the Security Council on United Nations peacekeeping operations

We would like to thank Under-SecretaryGeneral Jean-Pierre Lacroix for his assessment of the current state of affairs in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We thank the Force Commanders of the United Nations peacekeeping from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the United Nations Mission in Liberia for sharing the state of affairs of their missions.

The nature of the issues raised by modern-day crises is changing significantly. In carrying out their mandates, United Nations peacekeeping operations have at various times come up against terrorist attacks on civilians and peacekeepers themselves, organized crime, and illicit trafficking in weapons and narcotics.The situations in countries where they are deployed and their respective theatres of operations each have their own special features. 

United Nations missions are increasingly working in a context in which at least one side of the conflict is not a State. Instead, one of the sides is armed opposition or illegal armed groups. Furthermore, we have seen cases where a region with a traditional clash between two sides gets a third side that is not controlled by anyone. This was the case, for example, in the Golan Heights, where terrorist and illegal armed groups now run rife.

The trend in the Central African Republic is also a matter of concern, as there are ongoing intercommunal clashes, continuous extraordinary violence committed on religious and ethnic grounds, and widespread organized crime and gangs. Governmental and security bodies in many areas of the country are weak or totally lacking.

In these circumstances, peacekeepers need to act with utmost caution. It is more important than ever to respect the basic principles of peacemaking, that is, the consent of the parties; impartiality; the non-use of force, except in cases of self-defence; and respecting Security Council mandates. The loose interpretations that we have been hearing, based on the situation on the ground, are unacceptable.

We also must not allow peacekeepers to be directly pulled into conflicts, but this is exactly what happens if we get overly involved with robust mandates and even more with preventive responses to asymmetric threats. This also applies to offensive and counter-terrorist operations. It is unacceptable to take the concept of the protection of civilians as a pretext for the use of force by peacekeepers against the host State. That automatically turns Blue Helmets into a party to the conflict, provokes the Government and simply generates new violence.

In this context, we must be extremely cautious and balanced in approaching the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the Government and the opposition are having a hard time cooperating on the issue of implementing the December 2016 political agreement. Instead of overpoliticizing the subject of electoral violence and violations of human rights, there is a need to focus on assisting the Congolese in reforming the security sector and building the capacity of local security forces to counter lawless gangs in the east of the country and to improve the military-political situation in country as a whole. 

We must remember that the Government bears the primary responsibility for ensuring the security of the population, including by countering terrorist attacks, establishing a political process, ensuring development and eliminating the root causes of conflict. International assistance should be provided to support local and regional efforts, but not substitute for them.

With respect to the issue of increasing the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations while lowering financial expenditures, we note the need to improve approaches to mission planning, timely mission reconfiguration and drawing up exit strategies. It is puzzling that generic functions, such as addressing gender issues, peacebuilding and preventing the escalation of conflicts, are included in the mandates at the same time that a mission’s capacities are being reduced. Let us consider, for example, the situation in Liberia where Blue Helmets are mandated simply with peacebuilding tasks. That is where we have room for a significant drawdown in the military and police components. Nevertheless, for some reason there are 700 armed peacekeepers and 5 military helicopters there.

Blue Helmets should be deployed where they can work effectively while remaining neutral. Let us not forget that the essence of peacekeeping is the absence of an alternative political settlement. That priority has also been confirmed by Secretary-General Guterres himself. High-quality, thorough political and mediation efforts should be the priority. The history of conflicts in various regions of the world has shown that this is the only way to eradicate the root causes of conflicts, as opposed to endlessly addressing their consequences. Otherwise, after a brief respite, crises are at risk of rearing their ugly heads again.