Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva at High-Level Side Event on Sudan

Dear colleagues,

We thank UN Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Ms. Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide for organizing today’s meeting as well as for their remarks. We welcome the participation of Prime-minister of Sudan Mr. A.Hamdok and other esteemed participants.

Internal political situation in Sudan remains complicated. It is still affected by the developments and Libya, the growing number of IDPs and refugees from the neighboring African countries, as well as the spread of the coronavirus. Sudan is experiencing profound socio-economic difficulties exacerbated by growing inflation and a decline in national currency. We note the efforts that the Sudanese authorities are making to improve the situation, i.a. by implementing tough and hard decisions. We therefore stress the need for international political and economic support to the Sudanese authorities in order to overcome this challenges.

We support activities of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) aimed at sustaining Khartoum’s capacity in such core areas as peacebuilding, socio-economic transformations, maintaining domestic peace and legal order. In these circumstances, we attach great importance to maintaining well-balanced contacts with all Sudanese authorities, supporting their efforts to implement the Constitutional Declaration. We note the commitment of Sudanese leadership to further normalize the situation in Darfur.

We strongly call upon all armed groups that so far have remained outside the Juba agreement to join the peace process. We note steps taken by Khartoum to implement the provisions of this agreement, including through establishment of relevant military committees.

We welcome Khartoum’s readiness to thoroughly address the root causes of conflicts and inter-communal disputes in various regions of Sudan. Prompt implementation of the National Plan for Civilian Protection will be a solid asset in this regard.

We are encouraged that the situation in Darfur is gradually getting back to a peaceful track. Sporadic inter-communal clashes in some states do not change the overall dynamic. Well-coordinated response of the authorities to the incidents proves Khartoum’s commitment to take a comprehensive approach to promoting stabilization.

I would like to reaffirm our readiness to support Sudan both bilaterally and together with our colleagues in the Security Council.

I thank you.