Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UN Security Council Meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question
Mm. President,
We welcome you in the Chair of the Security Council.
We thank Mr.Nickolay Mladenov for his briefing.
Today we once again discuss the situation in the Middle East. What is Middle East? Can this region be viewed separately from North Africa or the Persian Gulf? We deem the answer obvious. However, what stands at the core of Middle Eastern problems is Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Recently we have seen attempts to shift the focus off this problem (though it is crucial for all current developments), and to replace this issue by others, many of which are created artificially. In parallel to this, new dangerous trends emerge at the Palestinian-Israeli track: unilateral steps and aggressive revision of previous arrangements become a common thing. We would like to express ourselves in an unambiguous way: for us the international legal basis for Middle Eastern settlement remains impregnable, and it rests on Security Council resolutions, the “Arab Peace Initiative” and the “Madrid Principles”.
We are convinced that today, as never before, there is a need to lead the peace process out of the dangerous deadlock. Russia both bilaterally and in other formats will continue efforts aimed at resuming direct dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. We are very concerned about the analysis of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East N.Mladenov mentioned. The analysis implies that the situation in those areas can only be deterred from further degradation, to say nothing of its improvement. This state of affairs will sooner rather than later obliterate the virtual line between unsteady stability and chaos.
Therefore, we need concrete measures to improve the situation. The recipes are well-known. Israel should stop its settlement activity in the West Bank and revoke the policy of demolishing Palestinian property in the first place. Both Palestinians and Israelis should abstain from violence and aggressive provocative rhetoric. This is how we view proclaimed plans to annex settlements in the West Bank.
We are firmly convinced that one can achieve no breakthrough when acting alone. History of the Middle East has proven this many times. In spite of this, there are continuing incessant attempts to impose “alternative” settlement scenarios that undermine parameters of resolving the Palestinian issue that have been elaborated and endorsed by the global community. The decision of the U.S. Administration on Jerusalem, illegitimate recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights constitute a severe violation of international law, in particular of Security Council resolution 497. In this context, we would like to reiterate that Golan Heights without any doubt are part of Syrian territory that Israel occupied after the war of 1967 and illegally annexed 14 years thereafter.
It is obvious to us, just as to the majority of our colleagues, that the only way out is to link international and regional efforts under the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council.
We need active steps to improve the depressing situation in Gaza Strip. We will set forth our assistance to the UNRWA. Its activity has both a humanitarian and a political dimension, and it produces a stabilizing effect on Palestinian territories and states in the Middle East.
Israel and Palestine are of great religious importance for hundreds of thousand adherents of monotheistic religions. Achieve peace at these territories promptly – this is something that falls into interests of all Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Meanwhile, destabilization in the Middle East and the North of Africa has taken a toll on Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities living in the region. Extremists make use of ethnic and religious factors in order to incite hatred and replenish their ranks. It is crucial to take urgent steps to stop massive exit of Christians and other minorities from the Middle East, to keep a vital balance of co-existence that the region used to maintain for many centuries.
Mm. President,
The lack of solution to the Palestinian problem, alongside with lasting instability in the region accumulate capacity for protests and radicalism. The situation asks for unifying steps to be made by responsible members of the global community. Security Council resolution 598 has tasked the Secretary-General to work at this track. The regionals are interested in it. All of this makes the need to develop a sustainable collective security mechanism based on equal dialogue even more pressing. To this end, there is a relevant Russian initiative that is aimed at leading conflicts out of deadlock and developing confidence and control measures.
We call upon our international and regional partners to consider Iran’s initiative on trust and security measures in the Strait of Hormuz. It invites to take part in a serious dialogue meant to sanate the situation in the region – something that we relentlessly call for.
Mm. President,
Consolidation of all interested stakeholders, including regionals and neighbors, is absolutely necessary in order to stop bloodshed in Libya and proceed to dialogue in the interests of political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict under UN auspices.
We keep close track of the developments in Lebanon. We expect that the country will overcome the uneasy times it is living through and emerge more unified than ever before.
Yemen has shown signs of moderate de-escalation, outlined prospects for achieving progress on its way to peaceful settlement with the support of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. We will be supporting these trends.
Russia has taken much effort and engaged in constructive, inclusive, and fair work void of any double standards in order to shift the focus of the Syrian conflict to the political track. We expect progress in settlement that should base on agreements made by the Syrians. It is Syrians and Syrians only who should be responsible for the fate of their country.
Mm.President,
We stand ready for constructive cooperation with our partners on all items on the Middle Eastern agenda. It is our firm conviction that we should increase the profile of our coordination; develop consolidated and unbiased approaches that should serve the interests of the peoples and States of the Middle East rather than those of external actors.
Thank you.
