Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at an informal "Arria-formula" VTC meeting of UNSC members "Crimea: 7 years of violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity"
Mr. Chair,
Our Ukrainian and Western colleagues who represent 99% of the speakers at today’s event are persisting in promoting fake news and data about Crimea and in blocking any voice that could question or put in doubt these allegations. During previous editions of this “Arria-formula” I already compared it to a seminar of fiction writers who compete in making-up the most thrilling story about horrors of life in Crimea. As for any gathering of such kind, there is no requirement for such a story to have any relation to the situation on the ground. We noticed that you changed the composition of this “fiction club”, but one thing remains consistent: your briefers have no relation to today’s Crimea and haven’t visited the Peninsula since its reunification with Russia. Mr.Memedaminov who is convicted for promotion of terrorist organization “Hisb ut-Tahrir” banned in Russia and a lot of other countries, including some of the co-hosts of today’s event, can hardly be considered an unbiased and trustworthy witness of today’s realities in Crimea. Therefore, your briefers’ sources of information are Ukraine-based former Crimean politicians, people who broke the law and have affiliation with international terrorists like Mr.Memedaminov, and NGO’s affiliated to former Crimeans in exile or to Maidan authorities in Kiev.
Since our meetings in “Arria-formulas” are not supposed to be “fiction-writers’ discussion clubs” we made an effort to correct the fictional character of our today’s gathering. Last year the briefers we proposed were denied a chance to participate under the pretext that we allegedly announced them “too late”. This year we proposed, very much in anticipation of the initiative of our Estonian colleagues, to include residents of Crimea into the list of the briefers well in advance. Unfortunately, our offer was ignored, clearly proving one more time that the organizers are not interested in discovering the truth about life in Crimea or even in holding a discussion with the participation of those who live there. The refusal of our Estonian colleagues and other co-hosts and their fear to face Crimeans at this event is understandable: opinions and accounts of people living a normal life in the peninsula would absolutely not fit in their preset narrative about alleged Russian annexation, militarization, human rights abuses, discrimination of national minorities, etc. It must be very uncomfortable to spread disinformation in front of those who can easily refute these allegations and deprive this gathering of the only added value for our Western and Ukrainian colleagues: to create an impression of Russia being isolated and condemned by most of the speakers. You can achieve this only by having all speakers like-minded and streamlined alongside with well-known Western hostile approaches towards Russia.
I myself will not waste time arguing with you and rebuffing your claims. Crimeans are much better placed for that. Therefore, I would simply announce that given the fact that the organizers opted to ignore our request to make a single meeting with a balanced composition of briefers we have no other option but to organize a follow-up meeting on 17 March. On that day, Director of Crimean Pedagogical and Engineering University Mr. Yaqubov together with students and some invited guests will address claims and allegations about Crimea that are being made and were made today. Since I appeared in front of you today despite my firm rejection of your allegations and claims I encourage all of you to have the courage and show up at our VTC “Arria” on 17 March and engage in a dialogue with the residents of Crimea. They will be prepared to listen to you and answer your questions. An open-minded person will be able to make his own opinion and compare it with what was pronounced today. What I heard today is light years apart from the truth and reality.
To conclude, I want to reassure you that I would advise everybody who comes to Crimea to get acquainted with the claims and ridiculous allegations that were pronounced today just to see how far from reality and irrelevant they are. Some of them are really pathetic: to claim that we don’t let anyone visit Crimea while 7 mln tourists come to spend vacations there annually, including 1 mln from Ukraine, is to contradict basic common sense.
I understand the emotions of our Ukrainian neighbors but I can’t say that I sympathize with them. Ukraine lost Crimea through its own mistakes committed immediately after the Maidan coup within the general context of alienating Russian-speaking population and neglecting their rights and aspirations. Unfortunately this context hasn’t changed and now Ukraine is risking to loose Donbass too through more and more alienating its residents. Ukraine is also heating up deep-rooted internal tensions within its own society by banning the Russian language, opposition media, presenting Nazi collaborators as heroes and emboldening nationalists and radicals. This is a suicidal path and our Western colleagues are to a large extent to blame for this ongoing tragedy. Turning a blind eye on the atmosphere of impunity, xenophobia, antisemitism, violation of basic human rights in Ukraine is a coward act from all of you and a blatant manifestation of your double standards.
As for the Crimea, this question is closed. Residents of the peninsula have made their choice freely and voluntarily, in accordance with the UN Charter. They will tell us about their choice themselves on 17 March. Whatever sanctions you introduce, whatever provocations you promote, nothing will change this reality. So I advise our Ukrainian colleagues to study well the mistakes that they committed in the past, correct them and stop building “Anti-Russia” instead of building Ukraine. We miss our good neighbors and would be glad to receive them and all of you as guests and tourists in flourishing Crimea.
