Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva at UNSC briefing on the situation in South Sudan
Mr.President,
We thank SRSG Haysom for the briefing. We support your work and the activity of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). We closely followed the statement of our Vietnamese colleagues who reported on the work of UNSC Committee 2206, as well as the report by a representative of UN OCHA about the humanitarian situation in the country. We welcome the representative of South Sudan to this meeting.
We studied carefully the recent report of the Secretary-General.
The Revitalised Agreement for resolving the conflict in South Sudan keeps working. Governments of South Sudanese states have been appointed, and a two-chamber parliament formed. A fundamental draft law on the constitution is now ready to be put to its consideration. We welcome the commitment of South Sudanese leadership to convene the elections in 2023.
Yet we assume that further developments will be largely defined by the security situation, which remains rather complicated despite the overall decrease of violence. We are concerned over the incoming reports about continuing local armed clashes of governmental troops and the opposition; a division among the supporters of First Vice President Machar with several influential field commanders openly opposing him; as well as sporadic intercommunal armed conflicts in some regions of South Sudan. The situation in both Equatorias raises particular concern.
In these circumstances, it is essential to boost the process of forming united armed forces. We call on all non-signatories of the Peace Agreement to join the state-building process. There is a need to continue dialogue with Kitgwang faction of “Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition”, as well as Sant'Egidio Community’s negotiations process.
We believe that only prompt and full implementation of the agreements may help the sides build mutual confidence and help avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
We commend the mediator efforts of SRSG Haysom, as well as the activity of the African Union and Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that render assistance to South Sudan in implementing concrete provisions of the peace agreements.
It is our firm conviction that as the situation normalizes, we will have to review the South Sudan’s sanctions regime. We trust that in order to have the arms embargo relieved, South Sudanese authorities will make solid progress towards achieving the benchmarks set out in UNSC resolution 2577.
Mr.President,
In conclusion, we reiterate Russia’s readiness to set forth our support for South Sudan’s efforts aimed at recovering its statehood.
Thank you.
