Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia after Security Council vote on a draft resolution on piracy off the coast of Somalia

Mm. President,

Issues of safety of navigation and protection of lives of people onboard vessels, including crew members, are of primary concern for Russia. Therefore, we supported the resolution that the Security Council adopted today.

Thanks to coordinated efforts of the global community, activity of pirates off the coast of Somalia is going down, however occasional attacks still take place, which means the Security Council and its member states should pay much attention to this. In this context, it is vital that coordinated anti-piracy efforts should be continued, i.a. in the framework of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. We stand for keeping this mechanism, because it has proven effective.

Russia continues to contribute to combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia. Russian navy takes part in ensuring safety of navigation in vulnerable sea areas in close interaction with other members of the anti-piracy coalition.

We believe efforts of all members of the coalition should be praised. In this regard, we would like to draw attention to the letter that Iran sent to the Secretary-General of the UN on 3 December, which highlights efforts Iran takes to combat piracy. It is well known that over the recent years, Iranian mariners (of both fishing and commercial fleets) have suffered brutal pirates’ attacks. It is absolutely clear that Tehran, as no one else, is interested in stabilization off the coast of Somalia, protection of Iran’s citizens and prevention of criminal infringements.

That is why we regret that contribution of this country found no mentioning in the resolution due to political motives. We call on authors of the resolution to stick to objective approach when accounting for real contributions of separate countries (i.a. coastal states in North-West part of the Indian Ocean), international and regional organizations to countering maritime piracy.

Thank you.