Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Explanation of vote by Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy after the UNSC vote on a draft resolution on CAR sanctions

Mr.President,

The Russian delegation supported the adoption of UNSC resolution on renewal of the sanctions regime for the Central African Republic.

We note that the Security Council responded to the legitimate request of the CAR authorities to further mitigate the sanctions burden. The resolution envisages a simplified procedure for procuring mortars with calibers of 60 mm and 82 mm for the needs of the CAR military, which is another step to support Central Africans.

We would like to remind that the authorities in Bangui, supported by the regional states, call to completely lift the arms embargo. By all means, they have every reason to do so.

The arms embargo was introduced at the initial stage of the conflict. At this point, it impedes re-equipment of the national army and security forces of the CAR which bear the main responsibility for ensuring safety and security of the population. However, armed groups continue to restock on arms from smuggle.

We call upon Bangui to keep up with the benchmarks of the arms embargo review, so that in a year’s time the Security Council would have every ground to lift it.

Russia will continue assisting the Central African Republic in terms of both national reconciliation and strengthening and training its law enforcement for the purpose of stabilizing the situation in the country.

Thank you.