Statement by Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, at the open VTC of Security Council Member-States on the Great Lakes Region
Mr. President,
At the outset let me thank Special Envoy Huang Xia for his detailed briefing on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement for the DRC and Great Lakes region.
We continue to regard the Treaty as the cornerstone of regional stability. We urge all its signatories to honor the commitments taken, including the respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in the countries’ internal affairs and strengthening of confidence-building measures. We are convinced that the full implementation of the PSC Framework, in particular its military provisions, could have a decisive impact on the overall situation in the Great Lakes.
We totally share the point of the Secretary-General’s report that the momentum generated by the new leadership in Kinshasa in implementation of the Agreement more than a year ago is still maintained and our common task is to support it in every possible way. We commend the political will that the regional leaders demonstrate to settle their differences through negotiation and to sort out cross-border security incidents availing themselves of the existing mechanisms. We particularly welcome the arrangements reached between Rwanda and Uganda with the help of the presidents of the DRC and Angola.
We continue to believe that instability of the DRC eastern provinces continues to represent the most important factor of regional security. We remain seriously concerned over the military and political situation there, continued activities of armed groups, inter-communal clashes and cases of Ebola. Now this picture is further complicated by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. We welcome the results achieved by the FARDC and MONUSCO in fighting some of the armed groups, in particular ADF, FLDR and CNRD. We also commend the resumed repatriation back to the DRC of the former combatants of M-23 (le Mouvement du 23 mars).
We thank the Special Envoy for his relentless efforts to promote a comprehensive approach to the neutralization of the negative forces in the region. The work to foster exchanges between chiefs of intelligence and security services of the regional states, as well as to uphold dialogue within the Great Lakes Judicial Cooperation Network deserve full support. We took note of the VTC meeting of the guarantor institutions of the PSC Framework held earlier this month with assistance of the Office of the Special Envoy. We hope that the postponed 10th Summit of the Regional Oversight Mechanism will take place soon too.
We also took note of the work that the Special Envoy has launched on a peace and security strategy for the Great Lakes. We stand ready to support the effort and hope it will be carried out in full transparency.
Mr. President,
Many countries in the region are going through important times of their political history. Some of them, like Burundi, are entering a period of general elections. There is no doubt that political decisions could lead to a long-term stability only if they are taken by the countries themselves. Imposing solutions on sovereign States is unacceptable. In this regard, we fully support the call of the ICGLR Regional Interministerial Committee for the lifting of unilateral sanctions imposed on the countries of the region by the European Union and the United States. We believe that in the time of Coronavirus such decision would be particularly relevant. It would also echo the measures proposed by the Secretary-General to fight the pandemic.
As a member of the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region, the Russian Federation intends to further contribute to the search for a peaceful settlement for the Great Lakes.
Thank you.
