Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the open VTC of UNSC members "Cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organizations (League of Arab States)"
Mr. Minister,
We are glad that you participate in today’s debate in your capacity as President of the Security Council. We welcome Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit at this VTC. We thank him and UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo for the information and assessments they presented. We also welcome UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash.
Russia consistently stands for enhancing cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS). The two organizations are equal in age, both were founded in the interests of maintaining peace and security on global and regional scale. In order to foster interaction between the two, a UN Liaison Office was opened at the LAS Headquarters in Cairo in 2019. We believe this channel should be used in a most effective manner.
Unfortunately, the situation in the Middle East and North Africa remains complicated, among other things due to the lack of regulation of severe crises that are frequently provoked by external interference. Conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen are in the acute phase, we witness escalation in Western Sahara, efforts are needed to promote stability in Iraq. Besides, urgent steps are required to lead the central issue of the region out of a deadlock – the issue of Palestinian-Israeli settlement. We hope that recent normalization between some Arab states and Israel will not lead to further violations of Palestinians’ rights and will contribute to equitable settlement of Palestinian-Israeli contradictions on the internationally recognized basis.
All these “pain points” encourage increase in radical sentiment and manifestations of extremism. Elaboration of collective measures to counter terrorist threat becomes an increasingly urgent task. The coronavirus pandemic further aggravates the already complicated socio-economic and humanitarian situation in a number of Arab states. This situation asks for stepping-up of cooperation between the UN and LAS on such issues as response to emerging challenges, peacekeeping and joint efforts aimed at prevention of escalation in the region. It would contribute to peaceful settlement of existing problems and disputes without external interference, while upholding interests of all parties concerned, and on the basis of international law.
With this view, the LAS receives greater demand as a mechanism of multilateral dialogue of regional stakeholders. We believe it important to boost coordination between the LAS and UN Special Envoys in overcoming crises in the Arab region in order to have understanding of the nature of emerging problems and be able to search for collective measures to solve them.
We are interested in having a strong, united, and efficient League of Arab States, as it will ensure a higher profile of Arab states in preventing and relieving conflicts. Attempts to curb rapprochement of Arab states that are coming from external actors who pursue geopolitical interests are immoral and unacceptable.
UN cooperation with regional organizations should proceed from the understanding that it is regionals who play the leading role in defining ways of dispute settlement in their part of the globe.
Taking into account the potential of LAS in disseminating the culture of inter-religious and inter-ethnic peace, countering radical and extremist ideology, the UN and the LAS should also communicate on such issue as the situation of Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities affected by conflict.
Mr. President.
It falls within interests of all states in the Arab region and beyond to cast aside all mutual reproaches and suspicions, and by far unilateral sanctions, pressure, and provocations. Unfortunately, tension in the area of the Persian Gulf, which produces a destabilizing effect on the international relations at large, does not abate and in no small measure is deliberately maintained by the US Administration. De-escalation of the situation is greatly demanded, which was proven at the VTC of UNSC members that convened in October 2020 under the Presidency of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Mr. Aboul Gheit, we highly appreciate your participation in that meeting, which unambiguously confirmed commitment of the LAS to searching diplomatic solutions to existing contradictions.
On our part, we are ready to promote normalization process both in our national capacity and in a collective format, i.a. through interaction between UN and LAS. We presented an initiative aimed at ensuring regional security through rejection of confrontational approaches and promotion of constructive unifying agenda. Russian collective security concept for the Persian Gulf region is an invitation to dialogue, where LAS can play an important role. It is an invitation to peace as opposed to war. In Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I would like to follow in the footsteps of our US colleagues and recall another his quote, the one that they seem to dislike. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom”. Rattling with arms and provoking arms race in the region must stop.
Mr. President,
Russia will continue enhancing partner-like cooperation with the League of Arab States on pressing international and regional problems. For these purposes, we engage capacity of Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, which convened its 5th ministerial session in Moscow in 2019. Action plan that followed on from its results and the joint communique prove that our positions on a wide range of issues are either close or coinciding. We hope that this dialogue format will continue, epidemiological situation permitting. In this regard, we reiterate our readiness to discuss shared efforts to combat the coronavirus.
Mr. President, Mr. Aboul Gheit,
We underscore our commitment to strengthening Russian-Arab friendship and cooperation. Also, we will work to advance coordination between the UN and the LAS.
Thank you.
