YouSaid · the spoken record

Polyanskiy

lines on the record: 2,335
first: 2018-01-31
most recent: 2023-12-22
sittings or episodes: 300
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

“Before our very eyes we are seeing an egregious situation in which the United Kingdom, in the chair of the President of the Security Council, is obstructing the participation in its discussions of a representative of one of the key world religions. We cannot accept that. We request that the invitation to Bishop Gedeon be put to a procedural vote, and we ask that members vote in favour. Furthermore, in protest against the attempts by the United Kingdom to prevent our guest from speaking at this briefing, despite the fact that he fully meets the criteria set out in rule 39 of the Council’s rules of procedure, meaning that he is competent to talk about today’s agenda item, we will not speak at the meeting to be held following this one.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“Mr. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): I do not recall hearing that some kind of quota had been established for invitations to civil-society representatives. Once again, I repeat, we are acting fully in line with your presidency’s programme, which was proposed to us all, to which we all agreed, and which was to facilitate the greatest possible participation of representatives of civil society. Furthermore, I can remember many situations where a number of civil- society representatives participated in briefings, but not a single situation in which the presidency proposed some sort of choice as to which briefer should be nominated, as if we were haggling in a bazaar or a store.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“The British delegation must be aware that earlier in July we sent a letter to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council detailing the problems that Archbishop Gideon encountered as a result of his previous briefing to the Security Council. So where is the presidency’s commitment to protecting briefers now? Or does it extend only to the representatives of biased pro-Western non-governmental organizations? I have a question for you, Mr. President. Why are you insisting on not having an Orthodox priest participate in today’s meeting on the Orthodox Church? What does London have against representatives of that faith? If representatives of, say, the Catholic or Islamic faiths are invited to participate next time, will you also refuse them on a pretext of time constraints? Please respond and then I will continue.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“On that false pretext, the British presidency’s censorship steamrolled an Orthodox cleric, Archbishop Gideon, who was similarly persecuted after he spoke before Council members the previous time. He was banned from entering the countries of the European Union, which incidentally proclaims itself to be a champion of freedom of speech and belief. And now attempts are being made to prevent the Archbishop from participating in discussions in the Council altogether. That is despite the fact that at the beginning of its watch the British presidency announced its commitment to protecting representatives of civil society as a vital aspect of its working methods.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“The latter two have been prosecuted in Ukraine for their political and religious views and their efforts to protect the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. They are willing to share first-hand information with the members of the Security Council based on their own experience. We gave preliminary consent to the holding of two meetings on 26 July, one after the other, on the understanding that our briefers would be able to speak in full. However, the British presidency made the unilateral decision that there was no room for one of those briefers at a Security Council meeting, citing time constraints. I want to emphasize that this is completely artificially induced, since it was the British presidency’s own decision to hold the meetings consecutively rather than moving the second to another time.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“Mr. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): Before we begin our work, I would like to take this opportunity to voice our principled disagreement with the presidency’s approach to inviting briefers to today’s meeting under rule 39. Russia requested today’s meeting — and did so on 16 July — to discuss a very important and sensitive issue, which is the Kyiv regime’s attacks targeting Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. Based on the need for comprehensive consideration of the issue, we proposed three briefers. They were a representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Archbishop Gideon, of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the Ukrainian writer, publicist and civil activist Yan Taksyur, speaking on behalf of civil society.”
2023-07-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9385 (2023) · source
“To conclude, I wish to take this opportunity to ask the representative of OCHA a number of questions. First, what is the fate of the report of the United Nations country team in Syria on the impact of unilateral sanctions on the humanitarian situation in the country? That issue should by no means be overlooked by the humanitarian wing of the United Nations — after all, we are essentially talking about a form of collective punishment against millions of ordinary Syrians. Otherwise, everything that we have agreed upon here will be to no avail. Secondly, under the new circumstances, what is the status of the Secretary-General’s internal Secretariat manual, entitled “Parameters and principles of United Nations assistance in Syria”? As we know, that manual in fact prohibits United Nations structures from carrying out recovery work in Syria.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“Humanitarians now have an excellent opportunity to begin with a clean slate and finally prioritize the interests of those who need humanitarian assistance, including those residing in territories controlled by the Government, not just internationally recognized terrorists who have entrenched themselves in Idlib and their Western sponsors. That must be done as is right and proper, with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. We have heard again today how the straightforward and customary instrument that is the United Nations humanitarian plan for Syria is so severely underfunded. We urge those donors who place the interests of those in need above geopolitical considerations to respond to the call of the United Nations to help, inter alia, to finance early-recovery projects throughout Syria.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“We trust that the United Nations humanitarian team will take seriously the establishment of a cross-border humanitarian supply route to Idlib under the new conditions, through the Bab Al-Hawa checkpoint, as is already the case with the Bab Al-Salam and Al-Rai checkpoints. Under- Secretary-General Griffiths’ team has all the necessary tools to achieve that. There is no need for any further decisions by the Security Council to that end. Let us not forget that assistance to those in need should be delivered via all possible channels, including through lines of contact. We hope that OCHA will not do the bidding of Western States, which seem to have lost sleep over the prospect of the United Nations having to cooperate with the legitimate Syrian authorities, as it should be doing.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“The work of the Constitutional Committee will resume after the parties have chosen a convenient venue, other than Switzerland, for meetings. As far as we are aware, that process is nearing a conclusion. As for the humanitarian aspects of the situation in Syria, only five days since the discussion of the issue in the General Assembly, we have nothing new to add to what was said last Wednesday (see A/77/PV.90 and A/77/PV.91). We are pleased that international humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria will now be carried out in the same way as in any other country’s context — that is, with the consent of, and in close coordination with, the internationally recognized Government of that country.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“The Russian Federation has consistently and unstintingly advocated for the process of a political settlement in Syria that is both Syrian-led and -owned, with the support of the United Nations in strict accordance with resolution 2254 (2015). At the same time, we believe that the modalities for international mediation must be based on respect for the principles of the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Syrian people themselves, without external pressure, must reach agreement on all outstanding issues related to the future structure of their country. The only platform for such a direct intra-Syrian dialogue has been and remains the Constitutional Committee. Any attempts to impose other frameworks, formulas and schemes on the Syrian people will only lead the situation to a dead end.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“Terrorist activities in the south of the country, under the cover of the so-called security zone near Al-Tanf arbitrarily established by Washington, are also cause for concern. We believe that the return of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Arab family and the restoration of relations with Türkiye will facilitate an overall improvement in the atmosphere in the Middle East region and an expeditious recovery from the consequences of the Syrian crisis. In that context, we consider the awkward and inappropriate attempts by Western countries to obstruct those natural processes to be counterproductive. Such unconstructive steps, in our view, constitute interference in sovereign decisions of States and the politicization of purely humanitarian issues such as early recovery and facilitating the return of refugees.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“Mr. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We thank Special Envoy Pedersen and Director of Coordination at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mr. Rajasingham, for their reports on the political and humanitarian aspects of the situation in Syria. Today the situation on the ground in our friendly country of Syria remains fraught with tension. In addition to the illegal military presence in the north of Syria, including the presence of the United States and its allies in the trans-Euphrates region, there are other dangerous factors, such as arbitrary air strikes by the Israeli Air Force against Damascus and surrounding areas, the latest of which was carried out on 19 July.”
2023-07-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9383 (2023) · source
“As soon as all those conditions are met, we will return to the grain deal immediately. The fulfilment of those conditions will represent Western States’ contribution to ensuring international food security. For now, everything that we have seen and heard is merely demagoguery and hypocrisy.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Fourth, all issues related to freight charges and the insurance of Russian food exports must be resolved, and all logistics of food supplies must be ensured. The increase in the cost of sea vessels for cargo transportation and of international financial transactions and other transactions has led to a two-fold drop in profitability. Fifth, all obstacles must be lifted for the expanded provision of Russian fertilizers and the raw materials for their production, including the restoration of the functioning of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline. Sixth, Russian assets related to the agricultural sector must be unfrozen. Seventh and finally, the grain deal should be restored to its original humanitarian nature. It should work for the benefit of the countries in need, and not to make wealthy countries even wealthier.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Second, all obstacles should be removed for Russian banks and financial institutions that service the deliveries of food and fertilizer, including by immediately reconnecting them to the SWIFT international banking system. We will not be satisfied with any new promises or ideas in that regard. We need only for these conditions to be met. Third, deliveries to Russia of spare parts and components for agricultural machinery and the fertilizer industry must be resumed. The cost of imported spare parts for equipment and machinery for our producers has increased on average by 40 per cent. The costs of financial transactions have increased by approximately 10 per cent. The total losses have amounted to approximately $1.6 billion.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“I would like to emphasize that we are not against the grain deal as such, especially given its importance for the global food market and for many countries of the world, and we are ready to consider the possibility of returning to it, but only on one condition: that all the previously agreed principles of Russia’s participation in the deal be fully taken into account and, most importantly, implemented. For the Council’s convenience, let me remind members what we are talking about. The first is the principle of the real — and not theoretical — lifting of sanctions on the supply of Russian grain and fertilizers to world markets.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“And today they are deceitfully trying to blame Russia for derailing the grain deal and, in general, for almost all the misfortunes of the populations of Africa and other countries — the very countries from which the West itself, in the past, squeezed all the juices and resources, the countries that it pushed into the abyss of wars, hunger and poverty, and now continues to shamelessly rob within the framework of its neocolonial system. Moreover, today some of the European countries that pay lip service to the need to give Ukraine the opportunity to export agricultural products are themselves prohibiting the import of Ukrainian grain into their territory, prioritizing the interests of their own commodity producers, thus stooping to new lows of cynicism and hypocrisy.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Besides, we all remember very well how the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France blocked attempts to adopt a Security Council document mentioning the United Nations-Russia memorandum of understanding in July and November of last year. Now we all know why: they never intended to implement the United Nations-Russia memorandum, nor were they ever going to implement the Minsk agreements. They demanded the unconditional implementation of the Istanbul agreements only from us, and to our detriment.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“All of those objects are being successfully hit. Against that backdrop, we have familiarized ourselves with yesterday’s reaction of the Secretary- General to our military actions. In that connection, we would like to ask only one question: where can we read a similar condemnation by Mr. António Guterres of Kyiv’s sabotage bombing of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, the potential of which for global food security we already mentioned today? Nevertheless, we pay tribute to the efforts of the Secretary-General and his team, who sincerely sought to fulfil all the promises made by the West, but failed to achieve anything. Our former so-called partners in the West, however, spared no effort to disrupt the agreements and derail the Black Sea Grain Initiative.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Large numbers of human resources of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries have also been stationed there. With the termination of the deal, we have an opportunity to correct that situation, and we consider Ukraine’s entire Black Sea port infrastructure to be a site for the deployment and restocking of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with Western weapons, which Kyiv is using against Russia. As of 19 July, Russian Federation armed forces have been conducting multiple high-precision sea- and air-based strikes on military industry facilities, fuel infrastructure and munitions depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Odesa area, on production and storage facilities for uncrewed boats in the Odesa and Chornomorsk areas and on fuel infrastructure facilities and munitions storage depots in the Mykolayiv area.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“We will now consider all vessels sailing in Black Sea waters to Ukrainian ports to be potential carriers of military cargo. Consequently, the flag States of such vessels will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime. In addition, a number of maritime areas in the north-western and south-eastern parts of the Black Sea’s international waters have been declared temporarily dangerous for navigation. The relevant information alerts on the withdrawal of safety guarantees for seafarers have been issued in accordance with the established procedure. We should also point out that during the year in which the deal was in force, the Kyiv regime has used it as cover to accumulate significant military-industrial, fuel and storage capacities around its Black Sea ports.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Why is no one, including at the United Nations, condemning this crime or sounding the alarm about these wasted opportunities and the long-term consequences of the Kyiv regime’s irresponsible actions? On top of all that, we have also encountered situations in which the Zelenskyy regime and its Western sponsors, despite the agreements they have made, have not hesitated to use humanitarian corridors to attack Russian military and civilian targets, actions that have not received due attention from the United Nations or the countries of the West. Are we supposed to tolerate that? Considering these facts, I do not think anyone should have been surprised by our decision to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative after 17 July and to close the maritime humanitarian corridor as of midnight, Moscow time, on 20 July.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“In its attempts to bargain for additional benefits under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Kyiv has simply blocked it for almost a year, despite the fact that ammonia supplies are stipulated in both Istanbul agreements and should have begun concurrently with Ukraine’s food exports. I want to make it clear that the ammonia exports had significant economic benefits, including for Kyiv. The pluses on the humanitarian front speak for themselves. Consider that the pipeline annually supplied approximately 2 million tons of raw materials for fertilizer production, enough to feed 45 million people. However, on 5 June, the Kyiv regime simply blew it up. We are now facing a situation in which world ammonia exports are down 70 per cent.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“We waited for an entire year without results, and for that year our food and fertilizer producers and exporters were frankly operating at a loss. Russian farmers sustained losses of $1.2 billion thanks to a 30 to 40 per cent drop in the value of our grain on world markets. Thanks to the cargo shipping issues and the cost of international transactions, the profits from shipments were halved. The cost to our farmers of importing agricultural equipment and parts has gone up by 40 per cent and the fees for financial transactions by 10 per cent. Our fertilizer producers are experiencing similar problems, with losses now in the region of $1.6 billion. For months we were fed promises about a restoration of the functioning of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“And we just heard about the role that fertilizer plays in ensuring food security from Mr. Khazin. The importation of parts and equipment for agricultural production and fertilizers into Russia is banned because they are so-called dual-use goods. Our entire territory has been declared a war-risk zone, with insurance rates ranging from unaffordable to prohibitive, while foreign ports are closed to our ships and cargoes. The foreign accounts of domestic agricultural companies have been frozen. Partially unblocked funds have been transferred to the pockets of those same Westerners for loan repayments and the free delivery of our fertilizers. We nonetheless patiently awaited the fulfilment of our agreement with the United Nations. We twice agreed to extending the deal despite the outrageous problems created by the Black Sea Grain Initiative.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“One-off transactions with the permission of Washington or Brussels cannot ensure uninterrupted cross- border transactions or enable long-term planning for agricultural supplies, while notions of establishing subsidiaries of the bank are not feasible. None of the people lamenting and claiming today that Russia is starving the entire world have lifted a finger to even help Russia provide supplies of its mineral fertilizers free of charge — free of charge — under the auspices of the United Nations. Since that purely humanitarian initiative to supply 262,000 tons was announced in September 2022 and blocked in Latvia, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands, only two shipments have been delivered, and with great difficulty — 20,000 tons to Malawi and 34,000 tons to Kenya.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“As a result of those barriers, Russia has lost as customers a number of countries that could not adapt their banking systems to the new realities. However, we now have new markets where we have been able to resolve our logistical and payment issues, which has been done by our suppliers, unfortunately without the assistance of the United Nations. The Russia-United Nations memorandum of understanding, which was supposed to help us, has not actually worked. One of our key demands, the reintegration of the Russian Agricultural Bank into the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system — has been officially rejected by the EU and the United States.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Given Russia’s indisputable role among the world’s leading grain exporters, it was clear that in agreeing to the package deal and heeding the calls for uniting our efforts in support of global food security, we expected to be exempt from the Western States’ discriminatory approach to us through their imposition of unprecedented sanctions that in effect were an attempt to organize a blockade of our producers. That was important not for our own interests but for those of the poor States in need around the world. The fact that the sanctions imposed by the United States, London and the EU do not formally extend to food and fertilizers means nothing in practice. We are talking about major barriers to our export activities, which no one had any intention of removing or at least proposing working exemptions for.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“So who is playing the bigger role in global food security? Add to the wheat the fertilizers that Russia produces, and the picture becomes even clearer. And the experts understand that perfectly well. That is why the memorandum of understanding between Russia and the United Nations on Russia’s agricultural and fertilizer exports became an integral part of the deal, but in practice none of its provisions were implemented in the past year.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“If we are really going to talk about the saturation of the global food market and about global food security, the focus should be on Russia, not Ukraine. If we compare Russia and Ukraine’s grain production figures for last year, Ukraine produced approximately 55 million tons of grain, of which 47 million tons were exported. However, of that, only 17 million tons was wheat. Russia harvested 156 million tons of grain was harvested, of which we exported 60 million tons, including 48 million tons of wheat. And I should point out immediately that they were exported not thanks to the Black Sea Grain Initiative but in spite of the obstacles created to hinder us. Simple arithmetic therefore clearly shows that Russia is producing 20 per cent of wheat on the world market versus Ukraine’s less than 5 per cent.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“The geography and commercialization of an originally humanitarian initiative becomes understandable if we take into account the fact that the owners of significant areas of Ukrainian arable land — more than 17 million hectares — were the Western corporations Cargill, DuPont and Monsanto. They bought up Ukrainian land after Kyiv lifted a 20-year moratorium on its sale at the request of the International Monetary Fund and became the main beneficiaries of Ukrainian grain exports. Meanwhile, Europeans have been buying Ukrainian food at fire-sale prices, processing it domestically and reselling it as finished goods with at a high added value. In other words, they make money on it twice over. Tell me, what does that have to do with the task of providing food for the poorest countries, which we heard about yet again today?”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Almost from the very beginning, we drew everyone’s attention to the fact that the Initiative no longer reflected the initial goal and was becoming overtly commercial in nature. The fact is that developed countries took the lead as food buyers from Ukraine from the very beginning, and yet no steps were taken to correct that trend. During the period that the Black Sea Grain Initiative functioned, a total of 32.8 million tons of goods were exported, of which more than 70 per cent went to high- and upper- middle-income countries, including European Union (EU) members. The poorest countries, in particular Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, the Sudan and Somalia, accounted for less than 3 per cent.”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“Mr. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We thank you, Madam President, for inviting the briefer we proposed and for your rational approach to the number of delegations that were allowed to participate in today’s meeting under rule 37. We listened carefully to our colleagues’ statements and are once again struck by the degree of cynicism on the part of the Western members of the Security Council and by their desire to conceal the truth and engage in wishful thinking rather than with reality. To one degree or another, most of them have expressed concern about the termination of the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukrainian grain to be supplied to world markets. I have a question for them. What did they expect?”
2023-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9382 (2023) · source
“In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that no AI system should be allowed to put in question the moral and intellectual autonomy of human beings. Developers should regularly assess the risks associated with the use of AI and take measures to minimize them.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“Reaching universal agreements in this area is possible only on a basis of mutually respectful dialogue, on an equal footing, among sovereign members of the international community and with due consideration of all the legitimate interests and concerns of the participants in the negotiation process. Russia is already contributing to that process. In our country, the major IT companies have developed a national code of ethics in the area of artificial intelligence, which sets guidelines for the safe and ethical development and use of AI systems. It does not establish any legal obligations and is open to foreign specialized agencies, private companies and academic and social entities. The code was formulated in a national effort to contribute to the implementation of UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“Historically, digital technologies have been developed by the private sector, and Governments have consistently lagged behind in regulating them in the public interest. That trend must be reversed. States should play a leadership role in developing regulatory mechanisms for AI. Any self-regulatory tools that the industry adopts should comply with the national legislation of the countries where those companies operate. We are opposed to establishing supranational oversight bodies for AI. We also consider the extraterritorial imposition of norms in that area unacceptable.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“That is because the wealth created by innovation is extremely unevenly distributed and dominated by a handful of major platforms and States. Digital technologies have resulted in a significant increase in productivity and added value, but their benefits have not led to shared prosperity. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Technology and Innovation Report 2023 warns that developed countries will benefit the most from digital technologies, including artificial intelligence. Digital technologies are helping to concentrate economic power in the hands of an increasingly small group of elites and companies. The combined wealth of tech billionaires in 2022 was $2.1 trillion. Underlying that disparity is a massive gap in governance, especially across borders, and in public investment.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“However, the issue of the unequal distribution of such potential benefits is carefully avoided. The Secretary-General addressed those aspects in detail in his Roadmap for Digital Cooperation report. The digital divide has reached a point where 89 per cent of people in Europe have Internet access, while in low-income countries the number is only 25 per cent. Almost two thirds of global commerce and services is conducted on digital platforms, and yet the cost of a smartphone in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa represents more than 40 per cent of an average monthly income, while mobile data charges for African users are more than three times the global average. Finally, Government support aimed at equipping citizens with digital skills is provided in less than half of the world’s countries.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“At the same time, the algorithms learn to put out fakes and disinformation and automatically block information that the owners of social networks and their handlers in the intelligence services believe is wrong — in other words, truths that hurt. In the spirit of the notorious cancel culture, AI is made to edit entire digital arrays on demand, thereby generating false narratives. In brief, the primary source of challenges and threats lies not with AI itself but with the unscrupulous champions of AI among the so-called advanced democracies. It is just as important to talk about that as about the issues that the United Kingdom presidency cited as reasons for convening this meeting. There is a popular belief today that artificial intelligence will create major prospects for emerging new markets and sources of wealth.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“Today we are unfortunately seeing how the West, led by the United States, is undermining trust in its own technological decisions and the information-technology (IT) companies implementing them. We are regularly seeing evidence of American special services’ interference in the activities of major corporate players in the industry, manipulating content- moderation algorithms and tracking users, including through manufacturers’ built-in hardware and software features. However, the West sees no ethical problems with regard to deliberately allowing AI to ignore hate speech on social network platforms if it adheres to the political agenda that suits it, as in the case of the extremist company Meta and the permission it gives for posting calls for killing Russians.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“The issue of lethal autonomous systems falls under the purview of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems and the States parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, also known as the Inhumane Weapons Convention. Security issues related to the use of information and communications technologies are comprehensively discussed in the Open-ended Working Group on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communications Technologies 2021–2025, under the auspices of the General Assembly. We believe that duplicating their work would be counterproductive. As with any form of advanced technology, AI can have beneficial or destructive consequences for humankind, depending on who controls it and the purposes it is used for.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“AI can be used to create and spread disinformation and fake news, which can undermine the credibility of information and contribute to social and political tensions.” We therefore believe attempts to establish a generic connection between artificial intelligence and threats to peace and security to be somewhat artificial. And as we can see, artificial intelligence agrees with us. To begin with, the international community should determine the nature and character of possible risks and threats, assess their scale and possible ways to respond and so on. That requires a professional discussion, based on scientific expertise, which is likely to take years. It is already under way on specialized platforms. Various military aspects of AI that may have an impact on global and regional security are also being discussed in specialized formats.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“This was its reply. “Artificial intelligence can pose certain threats to international peace and security, but it can also have a positive impact. Here are a few points that should be considered. “The first is cybersecurity. The development of AI may cause new vulnerabilities and threats in cyberspace. AI can be used to create powerful cyberweapons, automate cyberattacks and circumvent existing defences. “The second is autonomous weapon systems. The development of AI-based autonomous weapon systems could pose security risks, as such systems could decide to use force without direct human involvement. That could lead to unpredictable consequences and exacerbate armed conflicts. “The third and last is the spread of disinformation.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“The impression left by the assessments we heard from today’s briefers is that as a technology, artificial intelligence is in the early stages of its development. The unknowns are still far more numerous than the knowns. The choice of the Security Council Chamber as a platform for today’s discussion was therefore not obvious to us. Even in the concept note (S/2023/528) for today’s meeting, it is clear that there are no concrete arguments that support the notion of organic interconnections between AI and issues of international peace and security, at least not yet. The concept note only lists a disparate set of technological trends that can be applied to any area one wants. When I was preparing for today’s meeting, I decided to ask the primary source — artificial intelligence itself — if AI is a threat to international peace and security.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“Mr. Polyanskiy (Russian Federation) (spoke in Russian): We welcomed the Secretary-General’s participation in today’s meeting, and listened very closely to his statement. We also thank the briefers for their interesting observations. The Russian Federation attaches great importance to the development of advanced technology that is designed to serve the common good of humankind and contribute to socioeconomic progress. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a groundbreaking modern technology that has unquestionably inspired considerable scientific interest. However, its practical significance and potential applications, not to mention its hypothetical impact on political processes, have yet to be fully assessed.”
2023-07-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9381 (2023) · source
“Russia will be willing to consider its restoration only when it receives concrete results rather than promises and assurances from Western capitals. Apparently, now is the time for Kyiv’s European allies to demonstrate the solidarity they have promised. Now they can export Ukrainian food through land corridors. For our part, despite all the obstacles, we undertake to fully deliver on our contractual obligations to supply Russian grain to our customers and to continue to help those in need in developing countries.”
2023-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9380 (2023) · source
“Since there has been — and there is still — no progress, and since the Kyiv regime does not hesitate to use the cover of an open maritime humanitarian corridor to commit provocations and attacks against Russian civilian and military objects, we decided to withdraw from the deal, about which we have today officially informed the Turkish and Ukrainian sides, as well as the Secretariat. That means that we are revoking the guarantees of safe navigation, closing the maritime humanitarian corridor, restoring the status of the north- western Black Sea as a temporarily dangerous area and disbanding the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul. In that regard, without Russia’s participation, the Black Sea Grain Initiative will cease to operate as of 18 July.”
2023-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9380 (2023) · source
“When we announced in March that we had agreed to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for 60 days, until 18 July, we stated explicitly that we would take a decision on further steps only after reviewing the progress made in addressing a number of systemic challenges, which we have spoken about repeatedly and that I will not list again now. At the same time, we do pay tribute to the efforts of the Secretary-General and his team, who tried until the last minute to persuade Western countries to fulfil their obligations to Russia under the Russia- United Nations memorandum. However, that was all smoke and mirrors in the end.”
2023-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9380 (2023) · source
“In a situation where exports of feed corn and wheat from Ukraine to high- and above-average-income countries remained stable — they received 90 per cent and 60 per cent of those commodities, respectively — the least developed countries received not even 3 per cent of them. The World Food Programme’s humanitarian operations accounted for even less, only 2.2 per cent of wheat exports. Since those facts are too unflattering and speak for themselves, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was simply reformatted from a humanitarian to a commercial one without much fanfare. Against that backdrop, the problems facing Russian economic operators have remained unresolved.”
2023-07-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9380 (2023) · source