YouSaid · the spoken record

Nebenzia

lines on the record: 5,044
first: 2017-08-02
most recent: 2023-12-30
sittings or episodes: 461
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“In the context of the unprecedented escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, we must note the current increase in tensions on the Syrian-Israeli border, which is linked to the active external interference combined with the illegal military presence of the United States in the north and north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic. On 26 October, United States forces, under orders from President Joe Biden, carried out strikes on two sites near the town of Abu Kamal, in eastern Syria. Washington said that the attack was undertaken as part of the exercise of the so-called right to “self-defence”, American-style of course, thousands of kilometres away from United States territory. Such illegitimate and unwarranted actions by Washington are nothing but a gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty and the norms of international law.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“Unfortunately, what clearly follows from this is that Israel is blatantly ignoring the views of the vast majority of United Nations Members, including many Western nations, on the need to end the violence. The appalling situation was brought about by the fact that, because of the United States position, the Security Council has virtually been paralysed. It has not yet been able to adopt a resolution demanding an urgent ceasefire. We have made two attempts to do so, but Washington and West Jerusalem have quite different plans — to exterminate the population of Gaza or force it out of the Gaza Strip, and force the rest of the Palestinian population to assimilate into Israel in order to resolve the Palestinian problem.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“The point is that, despite the unequivocal reaction around the world, West Jerusalem has started to implement its plans to “clean up” the enclave. What we heard in response was the assessment of the Israeli Foreign Minister, who said, “we reject outright the General Assembly’s despicable call for a cease-fire”. The comments by the Permanent Representative of Israel that the United Nations has lost its legitimacy have not gone unnoticed. Truly shocking are statements made by a number of representatives of the Knesset, which were widely circulated in the media, who said there is “no symmetry” in Israel’s response and that “the children in Gaza brought this on themselves”.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“As a result, in the Gaza Strip, there is a severe shortage of everything — water, fuel, food and medicine — and the people are frightened and driven to despair. On 28 October, based on a decision by the military and political leadership of Israel, the armed forces of the country launched a military ground operation in the Gaza Strip, while ignoring the position the global community had clearly expressed the day before in a General Assembly resolution (resolution ES-10/21). After intensive air strikes, the Israeli army began to enter the enclave from several directions — in the south in the area of the Bureij refugee camp and the town of Khan Yunis, and in the north, in the area of Beit Hanoun. The Israeli authorities describe their actions in various ways — expanding operations or preparing a bridgehead. But that is not the point.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“Such a blockade not only sows more panic among civilians but also directly undermines the work of medical and rescue services, which will lead to further civilian casualties. For the same reason, the passage of a humanitarian convoy through the Rafah crossing point on 28 October could not be agreed upon. We strongly condemn such actions, especially in a situation in which, after cutting off communications, the enclave has faced the most powerful air strikes since the beginning of the escalation. Given the active hostilities, the humanitarian response remains marginal. Since 21 October, only 94 trucks from Egypt have entered through the Rafah crossing point, which is the only crossing point, and Israel reportedly obstructs even those meagre deliveries.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“Al-Quds, the largest hospital in Gaza, has been under threat of attack by the Israel Defense Forces, with the Israeli air force hitting sites that are but 50 metres away from the hospital, which makes immediate evacuation absolutely necessary. Nearly 640,000 internally displaced persons have taken refuge in 150 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip. As a result of the bombing, nine hospitals are out of service and the remaining ones are facing a severe shortage of medicine. The blockade on the Gaza Strip has become essentially all-encompassing. Internet and cell phone service in the enclave has been cut, and it is now simply cut off from the rest of the world. No one knows for sure what is happening there.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“We express our gratitude to all humanitarian workers on the ground, who are working to exhaustion, given the catastrophic shortage of basic supplies, including medical supplies, and with extremely high risks to their own lives. The scale of losses on the part of United Nations agencies is shocking — 63 staff members have been killed, 22 have been injured and 42 UNRWA facilities have been destroyed. We pay tribute to the United Nations personnel who continue working in unimaginable conditions and those who have paid the ultimate price. According to media reports, two peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were wounded in Israeli shelling of the Blue Line.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“The time has come to call things by the right name — a humanitarian catastrophe of biblical proportions is unfolding in the occupied Palestinian territory — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. According to incoming information, the death toll in the enclave has exceeded 8,000, half of whom are children, women and the elderly. More than 2,000 people remain buried under the rubble, half of them also children. More than 21,000 people have been injured. The number of internally displaced persons in Gaza has reached 1.6 million. Some 640,000 Palestinians have found refuge in UNRWA camps alone. In the West Bank, more than 100 people have been killed and 3,000 have been injured. These chilling numbers are growing by the hour.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We fully support the initiative of the delegations of the United Arab Emirates and China to convene this emergency meeting of the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It was with utmost concern that we listened to the assessment of the situation on the ground by the Commissioner- General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini; the Executive Director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell; and the Director of the Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Lisa Doughten.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9462 (2023) · source
“That was on the basis of a separate agreement between the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and some humanitarian aid office in Idlib, which agreed to receive aid independently of Damascus and is under the control of the militants I mentioned. There is still no cross-line access, which we consider unacceptable. We believe that following the non-renewal of resolution 2672 (2023), international humanitarian assistance can be carried out in strict compliance with the guiding humanitarian principles of General Assembly resolution 46/182 (1991) — that is, only with the consent of Damascus and in close coordination with it.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“We continue to believe that the Syrians themselves should make the principal decisions on the venue for the next rounds of the Constitutional Committee consultations, without external interference. Attempts to present any possible alternative platforms have no foundation. No efforts are being made to resolve the situation with the remaining terrorist enclave in Idlib. Since the cross-border mechanism was dismantled, the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terrorists have effectively blocked humanitarian access to the de-escalation zone and are openly exploiting the needs of the civilian population. Despite the Syrian Government’s voluntary sovereign authorizations granted for the use of the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing for humanitarian deliveries, the first convoy was not able to pass through until 19 September, when a total of only 159 trucks entered.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“Building ties with other extra-regional players is also very important to ensuring that Syria can emerge from the isolation artificially imposed on it. On the political track, we continue to see no alternative to advancing a political process in the Syrian Arab Republic that is Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, with the assistance of the United Nations, in strict compliance with resolution 2254 (2015) and with respect for the country’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. In that regard, we believe firmly in the importance of continuing the direct intra-Syrian dialogue for which the Constitutional Committee remains the main platform. The process should not be interfered with by any other initiatives that are not supported by all the stakeholders.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“Against that backdrop, the United States and its Western allies, which are occupying significant territory in north-eastern and southern Syria and are involved in smuggling Syrian oil and grain, are exacerbating political tensions on economic pretexts by supplying the Kurds with weapons, which are then used against the native Arab tribes living beyond the Euphrates, including to create threats on the Syrian-Turkish border. They are getting help with that from the Israeli air force, which has expanded the geography of its arbitrary strikes across Deir ez-Zor governorate. Against that background, one positive element is Damascus’s development of its multifaceted interaction with Arab countries, including through economic cooperation and political normalization.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“In the context of the serious exacerbation of the situation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such forceful actions are fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, since they could provoke an armed escalation throughout the region. That cannot be allowed to happen. However, as usual, the American representative devoted much of her statement to making accusations about Syria and Russia. I would like to emphasize that unlike the United States, we are targeting Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which the Security Council has designated a terrorist organization. We have seen clear evidence of Washington’s meddling in Syrian internal affairs in the renewed Arab-Kurdish clashes in the area east of the Euphrates, which have led to more than 100 deaths, and in protests in As-Suwayda governorate, where economic demands have become frankly political.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“That put the lives of entirely innocent people and the safety of international air traffic at real risk, not to mention the consequences for the work of the United Nations aviation services, which also deal with humanitarian transportation. Moreover, on 26 October, United States forces struck two sites near the town of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria on President Biden’s orders. Washington declared that the attack was carried out within the framework of the Unites States’ so-called right to self- defence — American-style, thousands of kilometres from United States territory. Such illegitimate actions by Washington are nothing but a gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty and the norms of international law.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We would like to thank Special Envoy Geir Pedersen and Ms. Wosornu for presenting their overview of the political and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. The situation in Syria remains extremely tense, including because of the unprecedented escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The current increase in tensions on the Syrian-Israeli border is a matter of active external interference, along with the illegal foreign military presence in the north and north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic. This month, the Israeli air forces repeatedly carried out air strikes in Syria, once again targeting important civilian facilities such as the Damascus and Aleppo airports.”
2023-10-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9459 (2023) · source
“We talked to the Chechens, and as a result Chechnya is now a peaceful Russian Republic that is an integral part of the Russian Federation; indeed, the Chechens participate in Russia’s special military operation and fully support the Russian Government. That is what it means to talk to the people, but we did not talk to the Chechen terrorists. We are not asking Israel to reject a fight with terrorism but rather to fight terrorists and not civilians. That is what we mean, and we are not in any way denying Israel’s right to protect itself from terrorist attacks. I ask Israel to please bear that in mind when deciding to comment on our statements in future.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“We were also targeted in terrorist attacks during the Budyonnovsk campaign, when the terrorists occupied a hospital; in Dubrovka, where they took over a cinema; in a school in Beslan, where they killed a huge number of innocent children. I would like to draw the Permanent Representative of Israel’s attention to the fact that our statements and our draft resolutions contain a condemnation of terrorism and expressions of sympathy with the rightful rage of Israel regarding the deaths of its civilians. We are currently being confronted with terrorist acts as well, and we do not talk to terrorists.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): I would like to say a few words in response to what has just been said by the Permanent Representative of Israel. The Permanent Representative of Israel posed a rhetorical question: what would Moscow do if there were terrorist attacks on the Russian Federation? The response to that question is very clear. Russia has encountered international terrorism in the past, for example, during the events in Chechnya at the end of the 1990s and 2000s. At that time, many people sitting here in this Chamber told us that we were not dealing with international terrorism but with a national liberation movement, and they urged us to talk to the Chechens. We talked to the Chechens later. But we did not talk to the terrorists, we destroyed them.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Apparently, he did not read it carefully enough to see all the relevant elements, the inclusion of which he had requested in his customary emotional manner. We regret the fact that the Security Council has not lived up to expectations. We tried our best to help. The task of preventing further escalation of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict is now up to the General Assembly. We support the relevant draft resolution proposed by Jordan on behalf of the Group of Arab States, which we co-sponsored, and we call on all Member States to support that document.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We regret the fact that the Security Council has once again failed to take the opportunity to respond to the unprecedented crisis in the Middle East. I have already provided a detailed account of the reasons why the draft resolution submitted by the United States (S/2023/792) is absolutely unacceptable to us. It is very unfortunate that Council members, while remaining fixated on their national agendas, did not have the courage to show strategic wisdom and support the draft resolution proposed by Russia (S/2023/795). Our Albanian colleague, who lamented the lack of condemnation of the terrorist attacks, had an opportunity to rectify that by voting in favour of the draft resolution.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“We hope that most of our Council colleagues will take the same action as we will on this draft resolution. Otherwise, as I said, it would be an extremely serious blow to the Council’s authority. In order to nonetheless enable the Council to fulfil its mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security, we have prepared an alternative draft resolution (S/2023/795). It is based on trusted humanitarian language and incorporates the most useful elements from the United States draft resolution, as well as the previous draft resolutions of Brazil (S/2023/773) and Russia (S/2023/772). We see no reason for the members of the Security Council to refuse to support it — unless a ceasefire and stopping this new wave of violence have no place in their plans.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“A separate and major legal problem for the draft resolution is its reference to Israel’s right to self- defence, which, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice’s 2004 advisory opinion on the Legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory (see A/ES-10/273), is inapplicable in the case of an occupying Power, which is what Israel is with regard to the Palestinian territory. We see no point in supporting a document that is designed for one purpose and one purpose only — to serve the geopolitical interests of one of the members of the Council. The document does not merely fail to stop an escalation, it actually gives it a green light, leaving room only for further forceful steps to be taken alongside toothless humanitarian conditions.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“The United States draft resolution is essentially a licence from the Security Council for Israel to do just that, while thousands of Palestinian children continue to die. The Council cannot be tied to such a draft resolution, whose adoption would discredit it utterly. My American colleague mentioned the many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are providing assistance. I would like to point out that the first thing that the NGOs and humanitarian organizations that want to help are asking for is a ceasefire.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“It is therefore not surprising that the final product fell short of even the most minimal standards. It still does not include a call for a ceasefire or a condemnation of the indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects in Gaza. It does not oppose any actions designed to forcibly displace civilians. It is a thoroughly politicized document whose sole purpose is not to save civilians but to secure United States political precepts in the region by applying its own particular labels. The authors of the draft resolution resorted to a tactical ploy by stuffing their text with a haphazard set of humanitarian measures that Israel could take in conducting its ground offensive. However, they of course made sure that nothing in the draft would prevent West Jerusalem from carrying that offensive out.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Now, in an attempt to muffle the international community’s harsh criticism of its use of the veto, the United States is trying to push through a new draft resolution full of politicized, inappropriate and extremely dubious provisions (S/2023/792). I would like to point out separately that there was no normal consultative process for the draft resolution in the Council, despite the fact that our American colleague has just assured us to the contrary. The sponsors ignored virtually all the comments made by delegations, as well as the Council’s established practice for working on draft documents. The United States delegation explicitly denied other Council members the opportunity to consult with their capitals by setting unrealistic deadlines.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Exactly one week ago (see S/PV.9442), the United States blocked the Council’s second attempt to produce a response to the horrific crisis by vetoing the humanitarian draft resolution prepared by Brazil (S/2023/773). Moreover, the United States was the only member to vote against the amendments we proposed calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the condemnation of all indiscriminate attacks on civilians (S/2023/775 and S/2023/776). That made it clear that the United States simply does not want the decisions of the Security Council to influence in any way a possible ground offensive by Israel against Gaza. Such an offensive, accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law, would risk provoking an even larger-scale conflict in the region and perhaps even beyond.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): For two weeks now, the Security Council has been unable to send a collective signal for de-escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. That is extremely lamentable. The bloodshed continues, with thousands of civilians killed or wounded and more than 1.5 million people internally displaced. Let us take a moment to reflect on those monstrous numbers. Russia proposed the adoption of a draft resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire (S/2023/772) on 16 October. It was a short, depoliticized and entirely humanitarian text. Unfortunately, it was not supported by the majority of Council members (see S/PV.9439). National interests — frankly speaking, self-centred ideological and political interests — prevailed over the aim of stopping the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”
2023-10-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9453 (2023) · source
“Frankly, we see no reason why the members of the Security Council would fail to support it, unless the implementation of a ceasefire and putting an end to the latest spiral of violence is not part of their plan at all. We request the Brazilian presidency to put to a vote the draft resolution we have proposed immediately after putting to a vote the draft resolution proposed by the United States — unless our American colleagues would prefer to withdraw their draft resolution — and we would like to open it for co-sponsorship by the wider United Nations membership. We count on their support, which would enable the Security Council to send the necessary message and prevent the further spread of the conflict.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“We are firmly convinced that the message that the entire world now awaits from the Security Council is a call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire by the parties to the conflict. However, that is exactly what the draft resolution put forward by the United States does not contain. Therefore, we see no point in that draft resolution and will not be able to support it. We trust that the majority of our colleagues on the Security Council will follow our example. In order for the Security Council to be able to fulfil its main purpose, we have prepared an alternative draft resolution, based on agreed humanitarian language and incorporating important elements of the draft resolution prepared by the United States, the draft resolution previously submitted by Brazil and the draft resolution previously submitted by Russia.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“For example, after having vetoed the humanitarian draft resolution submitted by Brazil, which would otherwise have received the necessary support, the United States delegation attempted to put forward a new draft resolution that is full of politicized, inappropriate and highly questionable provisions. In order to make it easier for the allies of the United States in the Security Council to swallow the bitter pill and vote in favour of the proposed text, the authors packed it with a number of arbitrary humanitarian measures that Israel could agree to in the course of its ground operation. They also sought to ensure that nothing in the draft resolution would prevent West Jerusalem from conducting such an operation.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“Nonetheless, the history of the Middle East unmistakably shows that violence begets nothing but violence. That vicious circle must be broken. Any prospective military actions by Israel in Gaza, if conducted in the manner that we are currently witnessing that is characterized by gross violations of international humanitarian law and mass civilian casualties, risk provoking a larger- scale conflict that could encompass the entire region and even beyond. We would like to believe that none of the members of the Security Council are interested in that; however, the recent steps taken by our American colleagues leave room for doubt.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“It comprises a set of humanitarian requirements for the parties to the conflict, with the involvement of United Nations humanitarian agencies and other humanitarian actors on the ground in their implementation. We are convinced that the key requirement is to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible. To fail to incorporate such an element in a Council outcome would be a step in the wrong direction, as it could be interpreted as Council support for Israel’s plans to conduct a ground offensive in Gaza. We deem such a scenario to be unacceptable, given the positions of not only the Arab and Islamic States but also the majority of countries in the global South. We understand the emotional state of the people of Israel, who feel rage and indignation at the shocking and horrific loss of so many of their compatriots.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“Unfortunately, due to Washington’s negative position on the draft resolution submitted by Russia and the draft resolution subsequently submitted by Brazil (S/2023/773), the Council once again failed to realize its main purpose as defined by the Charter of the United Nations, namely, to maintain international peace and security. The result was clear — continued escalation, accompanied by a rise in civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. After the Council failed to adopt our draft resolution (see S/PV.9439), there was a terrible attack on Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. During the Security Council’s negotiations of draft resolutions on Gaza, a common denominator was identified that we could build on to develop a much-needed common position of the Council with regard to the events in the Gaza Strip.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“The Council must take that into consideration in the future, otherwise it will be impossible to avoid the recurrence of similar situations. Nevertheless, we are all now facing a more urgent challenge: to put an end to the violence and ensure humanitarian access to the people of Gaza, who have suffered indiscriminate strikes by Israel and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. For those purposes, on 16 October we submitted a draft resolution (S/2023/772) demanding that urgent measures be taken with a view to putting an end to the violence, ensuring the immediate release of hostages, preventing a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and keeping the conflict from spilling over into the region. About 30 countries co-sponsored that draft resolution, including 17 Arab States.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“Along with many others, we have been warning for several years now that the situation is on the brink of explosion, and then the explosion occurred. The current crisis has once again shown that without a just settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, on the basis of the two-State solution and approved international decisions, regional stabilization will remain an unattainable goal. Russia’s position remains fundamental and consistent — there is a need to establish a sustainable negotiation process on a United Nations-approved platform, which should result in the creation of a sovereign Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“This terrible act and the tragic events that followed in the region are the result of Washington’s long-term destructive position of sabotaging solutions to the most fundamental issues affecting this protracted conflict and its desire to replace goodwill participation in the Middle East peace process with the promotion of palliative economic measures. We have seen with our own eyes that such measures do not meet the challenges of establishing peace and stability in the Middle East region. This also had an impact on the unilateral steps taken in Jerusalem, in violation of Security Council decisions, including settlement encroachment, as well as undermining the status of Jerusalem holy sites. Let us have a look on what we have said on the topic of the Middle East settlement.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“According to the latest data, as a result of the 7 October hostilities, thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died, and some 18,000 people have been injured. Among the victims are 19 Russians. I will not repeat the statistics, as we heard the most current data from Mr. Tor Wennesland, indicating that the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip has exceeded all conceivable limits. The violence and killings that Israeli civilians experienced on 7 October are unjustifiable. We offer our most sincere condolences to the families of the victims. The taking of hostages was unacceptable, and they must be released. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated episode.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“Mr. Nebenzia (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We thank the Secretary-General, as well as the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Tor Wennesland and Ms. Lynn Hastings, for their substantive briefings on the situation in the Middle East region. We believe it is important to note that in these difficult times, the Secretary-General went to the region in order to personally undertake efforts to reach a settlement and provide a humanitarian response to what is happening. Unfortunately, today’s debate is taking place not only on United Nations Day, but also against the backdrop of an unprecedented outbreak of violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, which has caused a catastrophic increase in the number of civilian casualties on both sides.”
2023-10-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9451 (2023) · source
“Without an adequate response, those kinds of steps can be taken against any United Nations personnel in other corners of the world. It is only a question of time. Attempts to remove the Kosovo file from the Security Council agenda are unacceptable. We recall some of our colleagues trying to convince the Council that nothing serious is happening in Kosovo, that the situation there is not a question of peace and security and that thematic Council meetings should be held only once a year rather than twice. We are well aware of how events unfolded in the province in September. Given the current circumstances, regular discussion of the situation in Kosovo should remain on the Council’s agenda.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“There is no alternative to international legal parameters to find a stable and fair solution to the Kosovo issue established on that fundamental document. It should be acceptable to Belgrade and approved by the Security Council. The work of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is still greatly needed, and we should preserve its staff and financial capacity. We draw attention to the fact that the Kosovo Albanians complicit in the detention on 28 May 2019 of UNMIK staff member Mikhail Krasnoshchenkov, during which he sustained serious injury, have not been brought to justice. On 31 December 2021, another UNMIK staff member, Mr. Antonov, was unlawfully declared persona non grata by the province’s “authorities”.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“However, at the same time they are calling for the drafting of the statute of that community to be led by Washington, which is cat- egorically against the granting of any executive powers to Serbs in Kosovo. In that connection, we would like to un- derscore that, until a community of Serb municipalities is created in its original form, talking about security for the Serb population in the province is not possible and a last- ing, sustainable resolution to all of this is inconceivable. Initial steps aimed at de-escalation should focus on the withdrawal of the so-called special Kosovo Albanian forces from the north of the province and the dismantling of their bases and posts. It is also important for the Kosovo Force to return to its mandate, which is clearly set forth in resolution 1244 (1999).”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“In addition to all of that, it is presented as if resolution 1244 (1999) and the Brussels Agreement did not exist and that the process of normalization started only with the verbal agreements of February and March of this year. At the same time, the province’s application to the Council of Europe is being promoted. And Kosovars have also been promised that, from 1 January 2024, the EU Visa Liberalization Scheme will enter into force. It is clear that the absolute indulgence of Albin Kurti by his mentors allowed him to sabotage with impunity the unconditional obligation to create a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo. In Pristina, they say that the community of Serb municipalities is allegedly dead.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“Western pandering only stokes the “greater Albanian” ambitions of quasi-Prime Minister Albin Kurti, which go far beyond the province’s borders. He is trying to destabilize the Muslim-populated areas of central Serbia and is encouraging a centrifugal sentiment in North Macedonia. The maps of greater Albania in circulation also affect the territorial integrity of Montenegro and Greece. We draw your attention, Mr. President, to the fact that, in these circumstances, Western countries are trampling the international legal foundation for a resolution. Mediators from Washington and the EU clumsily present one-sided schemes for a successful compromise that infringe upon the rights of Serbs. The much-vaunted agreement on the path to normalization scorns the inherent interests of Serbia and calls on it to recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“Those steps are being taken in flagrant violation of resolution 1244 (1999), but Western weapons donors prefer not to think about that. In that context, Pristina’s declaration of the continuity between the police and the Kosovo Liberation Army is also revealing considering that the leaders of this terrorist organization, including Hashim Thaçi, are accused of serious war crimes in a case before a special court in The Hague. We trust that that institution will not repeat the errors of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and that all those found guilty will be duly punished. In that context, the refusal of Pristina to pay compensation to the victims of crimes committed by fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, running counter to the decisions of the court in The Hague, speaks volumes.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“At the same time, Serbs who had stopped resisting were not killed in crossfire; they were shot at point-blank range. Essentially, what we are seeing here are attempts to slander Belgrade. Such attempts are dangerous because Pristina is using carte blanche to step up the repression of the Serb population in the province. We are convinced that, if that arbitrariness does not end, the consequences will be extremely terrible and may mean the return of armed conflict. The tendency towards open confrontation is also shown by the illegitimate reorganization of the Pristina “security forces” into a quasi-army, their provision with modern weapons and military hardware and the training of Kosovo Albanian personnel at the American military base at Camp Bondsteel, which was originally intended for exactly the opposite — peacekeeping.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“Previously, in similar situations European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo patrols and Kosovo Force units immediately headed to the zones of tension to separate fighting sides and launch a negotiation process. This time, the situation was completely handed over to the Kosovo Albanians, which led to this tragic outcome. It is also noteworthy that, on the day of the incident, the West decided not to wait for the initial results of the investigation and immediately qualified the events as an egregious and heinous act of terrorism. The Kosovo Albanians spread disinformation that their “police officer” was allegedly shot by Serbs supported by Belgrade. Later, they were forced to recognize that the deaths were caused by the detonation of an explosive device.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“There are not enough vaccines for children, including newborns and medicine for oncology and other patients. Oxygen supplies at the Kosovo Mitrovica Hospital are running low, as the Prime Minister of Serbia mentioned. All that presents Pristina in an unflattering light. The incident that happened on 24 September in the north of the province in Banjska ie being widely dicussed in order to divert attention and to place responsibility for everything that is happening on Belgrade. As a result of that incident, three local Serbs and a Kosovo Albanian police officer died as well. We have many questions about what happened. First, it is not clear why the international presence held back.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“Since the ultranationalist Movement for Self-Determination party came to power in 2021, there have been at least 420 — and now even more — ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs. The barbaric burning of homes that belong to refugees returning to the province is particularly shocking. In recent months, there have been at least two such incidents. The dispute over the Visoki Dečani monastery, which has groundlessly been denied its claim to its surrounding property, remains unresolved. The arbitrary appropriation of Serbian-owned land in the north of the province to establish Kosovo police strongholds has also continued. Currently, the northern parts of Kosovo are under a de facto blockade. The ban on the import of goods from central Serbia is leading to a humanitarian disaster.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source
“We are particularly concerned about the fact that, on that occasion, the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) acted in concert with Kosovo Albanian security forces. KFOR personnel attempted to disperse the Kosovo Serbs who were peacefully protesting outside the Zvečan municipal administration building on 29 May. Kosovo Albanians took advantage of the situation by opening fire on civilians with automatic rifles. Dozens of people were injured on both sides, although by sheer luck there were no fatal casualties. The West paid lip service to condemning Albin Kurti’s “overreach” and approved certain disciplinary measures. However, they are merely superficial. The reality in the north of Kosovo has become very harsh. There are almost daily acts of intimidation, arrests of Serbs and attacks on people and their property.”
2023-10-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9450 (2023) · source