Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at UNSC briefing on cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States

Mr.President,

Minister, we welcome your participation in this meeting as Chair of the Security Council. We thank Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit for their insights. We closely followed the remarks by civil society representative Razan Farhan Alaqil.

Region of the Middle East and North Africa is living through a complex and tense period, i.a. due to the lack of solutions to acute crises that often turn out to be provoked by foreign interference. The hard effects of colonial legacy are yet to be overcome. A number of states of the region remain engulfed in political and economic crises, which boost radical sentiment and incite an escalation of terrorism and extremism. COVID-19 pandemic added to the already difficult socio-economic and humanitarian situation in a range of Arab states.

Conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen, remain in their active phases. There are tensions in Western Sahara, efforts are needed to promote stability in Lebanon and Iraq. Besides, we need urgent steps to break the deadlock of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which is central for the region. In this regard, the Quartet of international intermediaries for the Middle East becomes increasingly relevant. We call on the colleagues to support our initiative for convening a ministerial meeting of the Quartet. We trust that the recent normalization of some Arab states’ relations with Israel will not affect the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the internationally recognized basis.

The situation that is evolving in the region increases the demand for cooperation between the United Nations and the Arab League in addressing emerging challenges, issues of peacekeeping, and joint efforts aimed at preventing escalation of conflicts in the region. This sort of cooperation would promote peaceful resolution of the existing problems and disputes without external interference, with due account for the interests of all stakeholders, and based on the norms and provisions of the international law.

Russia consistently stands for enhancing cooperation between the UN and LAS. In order to sustain this interaction, the UN opened a Liaison Office to the League of Arab States in Cairo in 2019. We believe this channel should be utilized to its full capacity. It’s essential to boost coordination between the Arab League and UN Special Envoys in addressing crises in the Arab region and elaborating joint measures to solve them.

We once again underscore our interest in having a strong and effective LAS and promoting the role of Arab states in preventing and unblocking conflicts. We believe that all members of the “Arab family” should be equally involved in the decision-making. We remind that the issue of Syria’s return to the League remains pressing. We are convinced that such step would meet the interests of both Damascus and LAS itself.

Interaction of the United Nations with regional organizations must proceed from recognizing that regionals play the leading role in determining ways of dispute settlement in their part of the globe. The Arab League holds a vast capacity in spreading inter-religious and inter-ethnic culture of peace, countering radical and extremist narrative, so it appears particularly important to build dialogue of the UN and LAS on issues pertaining to the status of Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities affected by conflicts.

It falls in the interests of states in the Arab region and beyond to cast aside mutual reprimands and suspicions, and by far the use of unilateral sanctions, pressure, and provocations. Unfortunately, tension in the area of the Persian Gulf does not decline and continues to destabilize international relations at large. In this regard, we welcome the announced commitment of the regionals to searching for diplomatic solutions to the existing contradictions.

We reiterate our readiness to promote normalization in the Gulf area both in our national capacity and collectively, i.a. through UN-LAS cooperation. We remind of the renewed Russian collective security concept for the Persian Gulf region that envisages a rejection of confrontational approaches and promotion of a constructive unifying agenda. Our initiative is an invitation to dialogue, where the League of Arab states can play a meaningful role.

Russia will keep strengthening its partner relations and cooperation with the League on all relevant global and regional problems.

Thank you.