Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Cooperation between the UN and the GCC
Mr. President,
I would like to congratulate Bahrain on assuming the presidency of the Security Council in the month of April. We are grateful to the US presidency for heading up the Council in the month of March, in particular for their foray into the history of the Security Council’s initial years in New York.
We wish to thank the Bahraini presidency, in the person of Foreign Minister Mr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, for organizing the first-ever Security Council briefing on cooperation between the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We are grateful to ASG Khaled Khiari and GCC Secretary-General Jassim Albudaiwi for their comprehensive briefings.
We deem today’s briefing to be timely, especially given the current unprecedented wave of violence in the Greater Middle East region, which, unfortunately, is also affecting States friendly to Russia, including the GCC countries. However, we cannot agree with one-sided remarks regarding the root causes of the current confrontation. Yet, attempts to distort the true picture of events and the causal links between them fit perfectly well into the unabashed desire of extra-regional forces to capitalize on and benefit from ever-emerging numerous hotbeds of chronic instability in the region.
For our part, we would like to reiterate that the current conflict did not occur in a “vacuum,” but was a direct result of the unprovoked aggression by the United States and Israel against the sovereign territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Washington and West Jerusalem could not but realize how grave the consequences of their military misadventure would be for the countries of the region. Innocent people, including women and children, are dying each and every day. The magnitude of damage to energy and other vital infrastructure in Iran and in Arab monarchies is growing by minute. Irreparable harm is being done not only to regional stability, but also to global food and energy security and to the world economy as a whole. This is clearly evidenced by relevant assessments and predictions coming from specialized UN agencies, as well as by price volatility in global markets, and disruptions in the supply of energy and fertilizers.
Once again, we call for an immediate cessation of all hostilities that are bringing destruction and suffering to civilians. Russia stands ready to engage in the quest for a settlement of the current confrontation through political and diplomatic means, in line with international law and with due regard for the legitimate interests of the States involved. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region. With each passing day, it becomes increasingly clear that the first step on the path to de-escalation should be the cessation of strikes by Washington and West Jerusalem on Iranian territory and the halting of strikes by Iran on the territory of Arab States. It is time to stop and put an end to these dangerous games with fire, since this fire may evolve into a full-scale conflagration – not merely regional, but a global one.
Mr. President,
We align ourselves with the assessments expressed today regarding the importance of stepping up cooperation between the United Nations and the GCC, as both organizations are working to ensure peace and security at the regional and global levels. We support such cooperation in the spirit of our traditional belief that the views of regional organizations must be taken into account in the work of the Security Council in those areas that directly pertain to them.
We proceed from the premise that the GCC is a political and economic alliance. We are convinced that our Arab friends within the GCC have valuable insights to share with the Security Council when it comes to assessing the situation in the Gulf region, developing a coordinated response to current threats and challenges, and advancing a unifying socio-economic agenda. We, in turn, have established a regular exchange of views with the GCC on various topics of mutual interest. This robust political dialogue lays a solid foundation for further incremental development of the entire range of trade, economic, and investment cooperation between our country and our Arab partners.
Mr. President,
The GCC member States occupy a rightful place as one of the key centers of the nascent multipolar world and are consistently consolidating their credibility as major players on the global stage. As part of our regular dialogue with this regional organization, we have paid and will continue to pay particular attention to promoting Russia’s Collective Security Concept for Persian Gulf, which is aimed at maintaining good-neighborly relations among all littoral States in this strategically important region.
We have talked about this for quite some time. The relevance of Russia’s approaches and considerations has been shored up by the recent events in the region. We have always emphasized that the ideas set forth in our draft Concept are not done and dusted. Unlike our Western colleagues, we never impose cookie-cutter solutions nor present our point of view as the only correct one. On the contrary, we invite our Middle Eastern friends to engage in constructive discussions aimed at finding joint solutions that would serve, first and foremost, the interests of the countries of the region itself.
In conclusion, we would like to thank our Bahraini colleagues for their initiative of adopting, following today’s meeting, a Security Council Presidential Statement on cooperation between the United Nations and the GCC. We commend the authors’ constructive approach to negotiating the text, and we welcome the fact that we all have managed to ensure that the document be depoliticized in nature.
Thank you.
