Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Explanation of vote by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy following the UNSC vote on a draft resolution on the UN Focal Point for Delisting

The Russian Federation voted in favor of the Security Council resolution on the UN focal point for delisting.

We consistently proceed from the premise that UNSC sanctions are one of the most stringent and robust forms of response to threats to peace. Therefore, they should be applied in an exceedingly cautious way, and they need to be impeccably substantiated and nuanced. The use of such sanctions as a “punitive” tool is unacceptable. They should reflect the real situation in those countries against which they are imposed, and they should facilitate the political process there. However, in practice, the Council, alas, has far from always been able to adhere to this approach. This is due to the fact that in recent decades the Security Council has been “fascinated” by sanctions, and excessively wielded this tool at the instigation of Western states.

Against this background, we repeatedly stressed the importance of regular reassessment of sanction measures in terms of their adequacy, fairness and effectiveness, as well as the need for the subsequent modification of such measures with the view to addressing the negative reprecussions associated with them. However, open-ended sanctions do not meet these criteria. Another important component is an analysis of the relevant procedures, including the delisting process. This is a fundamental issue directly related to the practice of imposing sanctions.

In the course of work on the text, our delegation from the very outset demonstrated a constructive approach and a willingness to responsibly search for compromise solutions. With our active participation and support, there was taken a consensus decision to establish the informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions. The main thing is that this subsidiary Security Council organ will not encroach upon the powers of sanctions committees, and its activities will be carried out on the basis of consensus. It’s important that this specialized Council Working Group will not only be involved in studying and reviewing the mechanism of the United Nations Focal Point for Delisting, or assessing the work of the Security Council committees and their interaction among themselves and with the relevant expert panels. It will rather focus on assessing the sanctions themselves, strengthening the capacity of states to comply with them, and (which is crucial) it will deal with the negative humanitarian consequences. In doing so, it is important to pay due attention to the adequacy and fairness of sanctions measures, including delisting.

In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the resolution adopted today will certainly not be able to resolve all the existing problems associated with the application of UNSC sanctions. We believe, however, that it will be a step in the right direction and we hope that this work will continue.

I thank you for your attention.

Video of the statement