Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East

Thank you, Mr Minister. I would also like to thank Chef de Cabinet of the Executive Office of the Secretary-General Ms Maria Luiza Viotti for the report on the situation in the Middle East. We have listened carefully to our colleagues' statements, and besides you, Mr Minister, we would like to give a special mention to and welcome the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the German State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office Andreas Michaelis.

It is no secret that today the Middle East is facing serious crises which prove existential to a number of states. In order to try to find a way out of those crises it is important to not only look forward, but also look back to realize what mistakes have been made, and attempt to avoid them in the future.

In our opinion, the most substantive conclusion that we should draw from the experience of the past two decades is as follows.

Any unilateral actions do not bring us closer to the resolution of both long-standing and new problems in the region. Especially harmful is the situation when some UN member states try to delegitimize governments of other member states. The policy of destabilizing and overthrowing regimes undesirable for one country or another, which derives from those actions, not only was far from contributing to the resolution of multiple problems in the region, but also created new "bleeding" and extremely dangerous ones. It is obvious to us and to most of our partners that the only way out is to give the key role in international and regional efforts to the UN and its Security Council. It is in this chamber that we must reaffirm that this premise should become a starting point of the relevant efforts and initiatives.

Geopolitical engineering, interference in internal affairs, imposing of forceful resolution have led to the collapse of whole states, tragedies and death of hundreds of thousands of the region residents. It would not be an overstatement to say that as a result many countries have become hostages of opportunistic goals of external actors and are forced to wage proxy wars detrimental to their own national interests

Mr Pompeo, we listened to your statement very carefully, I even asked my colleagues to literally analyze every word of it, because so much in fact depends on your statement. It turns out that you used so many words that have a negative connotation. "Challenges", "deterrence", "conflict", "regime", "limitations", "counteraction", "threat". You used the word "cooperation" only once and that was in the context of "coalition against Iran", and not once did you use the word "dialogue". From our point of view, it is these two words and these two concepts that are at the heart of any diplomatic efforts.

We also noticed that you talked much about the Persian Gulf, and did that with emotion. We are also deeply concerned with the situation in that region. The only difference is that from the very beginning you have been creating a coalition against Iran, making the country look like the main and practically the only source of problems, the empire of evil, so to say.

However, in our opinion, the tensions that we have been witnessing lately in the Persian Gulf are mostly created and exacerbated artificially. In the context of ongoing exchange of accusations, we are witnessing increased military presence, carried out, inter alia, by states from other regions, which creates the risks of an armed clash. Any incident may result in conflict which will have disastrous consequences.

We urge all the parties to show restraint, take steps toward deescalation and resolution of problems through political and diplomatic methods. First of all, it implies abstaining from ultimatums, sanctions and threats.

Aware of the relevance of creating a stable collective security mechanism in the region on the basis of equal dialogue, Russia has suggested and presented, including in the UN, the concept of collective security for the Persian Gulf. It is aimed at unlocking conflict situations, development of confidence and control measures. We proceed from the premise that the security system in the Persian Gulf must be of inclusive, universal and comprehensive character. All States of the region should be involved in it on an equal footing, with establishing of appropriate organizational structures. It means that such a system will be a prelude to building a common post-crisis architecture in the Middle East region. Excluding anyone is unacceptable. After all, experience has shown that scenarios of knitting together ad hoc, temporary coalitions of vested interests lead to dire consequences.

One of such unilateral initiatives is the above-mentioned Ministerial Conference, held in Warsaw in February. We have repeatedly expressed our attitude to this event, and publicly, even at the preparation stage. We noted that the decision on the format of this conference and its agenda had been taken hastily, in camera, without serious consultations with the UN, key regional and extra-regional actors, we pointed out that such an approach is contrary to the declared goal of developing a collective strategy in the Middle East. We clearly stated that we consider this to be another attempt to impose on the international community unilateral "recipes" aimed at serving selfish geopolitical interests.

The outcome of the event fully confirmed these assessments. Therefore, frankly speaking, we do not see any added value of the work in the Warsaw format.

As for the Russian proposals, they can and should be supplemented and specified but they should be perceived as a sort of an invitation to a constructive dialogue on ways to achieve long-term stabilization in the Persian Gulf region. We are ready for close contacts with all stakeholders, through both official channels аnd social, political and expert circles. In particular, I would like to note that for the expert dialog on this issue to be intensified, an international expert round table is planned to be held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow on September 18-19, 2019.

Mr Minister,

We have always been convinced that negotiations are possible in any situation, provided that parties are willing to hold them with mutual respect, on the basis of the principles of international law, diplomatic practice and decency. Therefore, we, like the overwhelming majority of the states in the region, cannot be satisfied with the situation where calls for Iran to come to the negotiating table are interspersed with direct provocations and harsh sanctions. In view of such an approach, the Iranian side is unlikely to respond. Let me get this straight: we do not see any logic in actions of our U.S. colleagues, who violated the resolution 2231 of the Security Council and now urge Iran to start negotiations without any preconditions. We cannot accept the fact that 80 per cent of Iranian trade is subject to illegal unilateral United States sanctions of ex-territorial nature aimed at forcing everyone to obey the will of Washington.

It is also appropriate to mention here that in such a way the United States, violating the norms of international law, is in fact trying to "punish" those countries that comply in good faith with the resolution 2231.

I would like to assure, however, that even in this difficult context, we will continue to convince both our Iranian and American colleagues, that it is necessary to step back from this dangerous line and come up with regulating the differences through civilized dialogue, which assumes abandoning the policy of ultimatums, sanctions and blackmail.

Mr Minister,

As was the case many decades ago, the Middle East settlement is one of the key regional problems. Developments in the Middle East peace process remain unsatisfactory. The situation on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, where Israel keeps establishing settlements and demolishing Palestinian buildings, is not getting any better. These actions are not only illegal in terms of international law, but also constitute one of the most serious obstacles to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

At the same time, there are persistent attempts to unilaterally impose "alternative" settlement schemes that undermine the long-standing parameters for resolving the Palestinian problem that have been recognized by the international community. We believe that the intention to „disguise” the task of finding a lasting comprehensive solution to this issue is counterproductive. In the absence of encouraging political horizons, no economic surrogates can create the necessary conditions for the full realization of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. The basic principle of the two-State solution remains the cornerstone that will lay the foundation for a stable and peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis. We urge everybody to be guided not by one’s selfish interests but by the universally recognized legal framework for the Middle East settlement, including the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative.

For our part, we are committed to coordinate our actions with our Palestinian and Israeli partners, countries of the MENA region and members of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators.

Mr Minister,

Along with the Palestinian problem, regional crises, so to speak of a "new generation" are waiting to be resolved. The counter-terrorist operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria has made it possible to make progress in the fight against terrorism. Elimination of the terrorist activity hotbed in Syria is in the interest not only of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, but also of the European countries, since it will reduce the level of outgoing terrorist threat and the flow of migrants. I would like to emphasize that we have never agreed that terrorists can stay and feel comfortable anywhere in Syria. Therefore, we call for joint efforts and the rejection of double standards in the fight against terrorism. Let me get this straight: we still stand for a broad anti-terrorist front.

We keep working on the establishment of a political settlement in Syria while coordinating our actions with the United Nations and acting within the framework of the Astana format. We are in favour of uniting regional efforts. It is important to start dealing with the questions of the socio-economic revival of the SAR without any preconditions now as well as with the problems of refugees and to abandon the practice of forced detention of refugees in third countries.

The situation in Libya is, of course, also in the focus of our common attention. We presume that we can help Libyans to get out of the crisis only by consolidating the positions of international actors. What is happening shows what foreign military interventions can result in. In Libya, it has resulted in the total dismantling of statehood. We call on all Libyan parties to cooperate with the United Nations and to reject the implementation of the unilateral agenda, and on external actors to act in accordance with the rules of the game.

These approaches are equally applicable to the situation in Yemen, where all parties should also act in accordance with unifying character of the United Nations to revive statehood, combat terrorism and move towards building good-neighborly relations.

Mr Minister,

In conclusion, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the alarming trends I have described above have brought the situation in the Middle East to an impasse in all areas. That is compounded by a propaganda war in the spirit of the worst times of the Cold War. Amount of fake news produced by the various NGOs that receive funding from a number of Western capitals is off the scale. Unfortunately, unilateral decisions continue to be taken on the basis of these false or highly contested data, undermining not only efforts to resolve conflicts but also the entire system of international relations. Under these pretexts, "enemies" are appointed, and these threats, which require our collective efforts, are ignored. With that approach, we will not go far. The sooner our Western partners understand this, the sooner we will begin to work together, giving into account the aspirations of the peoples of the region to finally resolve already existing and only emerging regional problems. In the meantime, I would like to assure you that we are ready for any form of multilateral or bilateral cooperation and dialogue under the auspices of the UN Security Council, that would be based on a positive agenda, conducted without any double standards or hidden goals and with unconditional respect for the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern States and the rights and aspirations of their peoples.

Thank you for your attention.