Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC Briefing on Ukraine
Mr. President,
To speak formally, I am a Ukrainian. I have a strange last name, which – as Slavs know – is quite rare even in Ukraine. It comes from Zaporozhye Cossacks. My father is a true Ukrainian, just as my mother, who is from the Cossacks. They are Ukrainians to a greater extent than you, Pani Betsa, and you, Pan Melnik. But for us there is no difference. We are all one people. There are millions of Ukrainians in Russia and there are millions of Russians in Ukraine and Belarus as well. You are perfectly aware of this. But this is not the point. Nationality is something that we share, but the faith is different. This all comes from the Kievan Rus, which you sold for thirty pieces of silver. And let us recall the Great Patriotic War. During that war my father, a Ukrainian, went to fight in Leningrad for his country, for his homeland. He pretended to be one year older only to become a volunteer and fight for his homeland. Thus, he lived his all life with this extra year. Back then we had a common homeland. And what have you transformed your homeland into? This is something that no one here understands nor can understand. Back then we fought together against the Nazis and today we are fighting alone without you. Without those who you have transformed into Nazis. We are fighting for the people of Ukraine, for them not to become alike.
Yes, it has been going on for four years. Yes, I am not happy about the fact that people are dying. But, if necessary, it will continue for as long as it takes, so that you could no longer brainwash these people.
The meeting convened by the EU members of the Security Council has nothing to do with the maintenance of international peace and security, nor with alleged concerns for the plight of civilians in Ukraine mentioned in the request. The European countries are clearly not keen to support the ongoing trilateral negotiations aimed at seeking a sustainable and long-term solution to the Ukrainian crisis, nor do they care about the future of the Ukrainian people.
This was fully borne out during the Munich Conference held just over a week ago. What were the leaders of the majority of European countries talking about there, those of the EU and NATO? They were talking about arming Europe, buttressing its eastern flank, and preparing it for war. With references to his country's history and geography, German Chancellor Merz announced its willingness to once again take the lead in Europe by making the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army on the continent as soon as possible. One wonders how many European countries with lesser geopolitical ambitions raised questions about where precisely the Bundeswehr will bring them.
Keir Starmer was not to be outdone by the German warlord: for him, too, war is hardly a distinct prospect, and he is prepared for battle. It is surprising but the UK prime minister also recalled history, claiming that European security is impossible without Britain. In a similar vein, the importance of Anglo-German relations for Europe was also mentioned by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain upon his return from the Munich Conference in 1938. I think there is no need to remind anyone how things ended up, including for the UK itself.
The current European leaders openly and unreservedly announce that they are banking on inflicting a “strategic defeat” upon Russia, with their national domestic and foreign policies being made subordinate to this very goal, along with the economy of the entire European Union. Peace in Ukraine and its future were hardly mentioned in any of those statements.
Against this backdrop, Zelensky's hysterical remarks in Munich came as no surprise. Money for war is still being allocated, albeit in lesser amount than before, and weapons are still being promised and delivered. But doesn’t this all mean that Zelensky is about to be thrown under the bus? Europe appears to be willing to give security guarantees to Ukraine only as long as the Kiev regime remains Russia’s enemy and continues to wage the war. Zelensky does not want peace, as he clearly stated in Munich: for him, the war is a matter of political and physical survival.
Mr. President,
Western countries, primarily the EU ones, have played a very unsavory role since the very outset of the Ukrainian crisis.
The recent days marked another anniversary of the coup in Kiev. Let me remind you that it was the Europeans who, back in 2013-2014, staged an unprecedented interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs, and this is precisely what caused the unconstitutional ouster of the democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych. It was the Europeans who brought a bloodthirsty neo-Nazi regime to power in Ukraine, gave it carte blanche to commit any crimes, and effectively instigated its determination to destroy the Russian-speaking population. And these are the people who position themselves as a paragon, as the main democratic norm-setter and a source of moral standards for the rest of the world, which they deem not always civilized, and, more often, blatantly authoritarian.
Over all these years, Western sponsors never uttered a single word of condemnation for the blood-curdling attacks targeting civilians, first in Donbass and then in other Russian regions. For twelve years, we have been talking in this chamber about the use of aircraft and heavy weapons against women, children, and the elderly in peaceful cities of Donbass. We have been telling also about people being burned alive in Odessa, about the persecution and murder of dissenters, and about the all-out war being waged against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In response, we heard only mantras about the need to combat separatism and the legitimacy of the so-called counterterrorism operation.
But then the magnitude of crimes perpetrated by the Kiev regime rose to a fever pitch and the entire Western military arsenal was brought to its aid. To counter this, we launched our special military operation. Since then, Western narratives have become centered on the idea of “unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine.” Anyone who dares to tell the truth about the lawlessness carried out in Donbass, about the current attacks targeting civilian objects and civilians of Russian regions, or about the bloody Kursk operation, and even more so, anyone who dares to present evidence that the conflict was unleashed and provoked precisely by NATO, is immediately labeled a pro-Russian propagandist and muzzled. In Ukraine, such people are being expelled from the country, imprisoned, or simply murdered.
Now I would like to turn to my European colleagues: who are you trying to fool? Contrary to the facts and common sense, you have been casting Zelensky as a hero for all these years, you have been highlighting his peaceful aspirations, which he never had, while mendaciously accusing Russia of having no interest in peace and being focused on escalation.
Any attempts by European leaders to convince the world of their commitment to achieving peace in Ukraine collapse when faced with the facts. Today, February 24, the press office of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation published an urgent statement about the plans by London and Paris to supply Kiev with nuclear weapons, which is essentially a “dirty bomb,” as well as the means of delivery thereof. Specifically, we are talking about the clandestine handover to Ukraine of relevant European components, equipment, and technology – one of the options here is the French TN75 small warhead from the M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missile.
It is quite telling that other Western capitals seem to be perfectly aware of the magnitude of the recklessness of London and Paris's actions – Berlin, for example, has refused to partake in this venture.
I believe there is no need to remind you that such ideas and plans are not only reckless and dangerous, but also illegal, insofar as they constitute a direct breach of article 1 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation (NPT). For this very reason, those who are behind this misadventure are striving to portray Kiev's acquisition of nuclear weapons as the fruit of the work carried out by the Ukrainians themselves.
Such a turn of events clearly shows that British and French leaders, who remain out of the loop in the process of resolving the Ukrainian issue, have definitively lost touch with reality. Russia is in a position to respond to such actions. However, we do hope that there are still enough reasonable people with common sense in London and Paris who will be able to keep their leaders from taking such inappropriate steps.
Unfortunately, the UN Secretary-General is also playing an unsavory role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Not only did he unequivocally take sides in the conflict, depriving the Organization entrusted to him of the opportunity to impartially contribute to the settlement, but he also continues to remain obstinate, arbitrarily interpreting the UN Charter and other fundamental documents of the UN in order to establish a pseudo-legal basis for the inapplicability of the right to self-determination to Donbass. At the same time, the Secretariat continues to turn a blind eye to the deliberate strikes by the Ukrainian army against Russian territory targeting civilian infrastructure, including terrorist attacks against civilians, occasionally “grinding out” a pitiful few syllables about Russian civilian casualties.
Mr. President,
As is well-known to all present here today, the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security is borne by the UN Security Council, which spoke out in favor of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine in its Resolution 2774, which was adopted exactly a year ago. The Council's resolutions are legally binding; therefore, all member states of the UN must comply with them.
The Ukrainians and their European sponsors have a lengthy track record of treachery and hypocrisy, starting with the sabotage of the Minsk agreements, which were nothing but an attempt to buy time and rearm the Ukrainian army, as certain European leaders subsequently acknowledged. Just like Security Council Resolution 2202, last year's document 2774 was a mere noise to them, as it did not advance their interests. The leaders of most European countries, as we can see, consider themselves to be above the Security Council resolutions, principles, and norms of international law.
This morning there was a vote in the General Assembly on the resolution entitled “Support for lasting peace in Ukraine,” drafted by Kiev and European countries. This is yet another manipulation, an attempt to create a smoke screen before the eyes of representatives of the Global South. It has nothing to do with reality nor does it facilitate a lasting resolution of the conflict.
Mr. President,
From the very beginning of the conflict, we have stated that we prefer diplomatic ways to achieve our goals. In this regard, we appreciate the position embraced by the administration and personally by US President Donald Trump. Russia is approaching the trilateral negotiations conscientiously and in good faith, participating in discussions in Abu Dhabi and Geneva.
But any agreements need to be comprehensive, address our concerns about the root causes of the conflict, and bring about a real end thereof, rather than an ephemeral ceasefire, which the Kiev regime will exploit to advance its aggressive purposes.
Our country's principled approaches to resolving the Ukrainian crisis were voiced by President Vladimir Putin in June 2024. Let me remind you that we refer to Ukraine's respect for the rights of the Russian-speaking population, its return to a non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status, which is enshrined in the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of July 16, 1990. We also refer to the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as the recognition of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as constituent territories of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the will of their inhabitants.
In conclusion, I would like to recall another statement by President Putin that Russia has no intention to wage war against European countries. But if Europe starts a war, then Russia stands ready for it. The choice is yours: you can reconsider your reckless course of escalating confrontation with Russia, give up the logic of “war to the last Ukrainian” and stop torpedoing by hook or by crook the negotiations underway. A world where crimes perpetrated on the grounds of Nazism are hushed up and adherents of this ideology are used as a tool to advance geopolitical interests will sooner or later plunge into chaos. And the lessons of history are of the utmost importance in this context.
Thank you.
