YouSaid · the spoken record

Prystaiko

lines on the record: 39
first: 2016-04-28
most recent: 2017-03-23
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“We hope that incident does not portend a return to the levels of piracy threats that we saw in the Gulf of Aden several years ago. Preventing and countering piracy and armed robbery at sea should continue to be a priority for the Government of Somalia and the international community. Ukraine will stand in solidarity with Somalia as it counters that and other challenges and embraces new, historic opportunities.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“Thirdly, on the political front, besides the importance of ensuring universal suffrage, which I have already mentioned, there can be no doubt that conducting the constitutional review and achieving further agreement on the country's federal administrative system are key tasks for the new Government. Transparency and inclusiveness will play a decisive role in determining its success in that regard and how it will be judged by the international community and, most important, by the Somali people. Finally, I would like to touch briefly on another factor that must not be overlooked if we are to support Somalia on the path to sustainable peace in a comprehensive and holistic manner. Last week we had reports of the first hijacking of a commercial vessel by pirates since 2012.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“In the context of AMISOM'S eventual exit, we encourage the Government of Somalia to accelerate its security-sector reform, in close cooperation with the United Nations presence and international partners. The readiness of local forces for a gradual takeover of security responsibilities from AMISOM, including in the area of the protection of civilians, should remain our top priority. We know very well from our own experience back home that only well-trained and well-equipped national forces can effectively ensure lasting peace and stability in the face of the threat posed by terrorism.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“In that context, we commend the United Kingdom's role in those efforts and its readiness to seek new platforms and ways to help Somalia, including the London conference on Somalia to be held in May. Secondly, with regard to security and counter- terrorism, although the security situation continues to improve, we realize that the threat posed by Al-Shabaab persists. We strongly condemn its terrorist activities, particularly attacks and violence against civilians, the recruitment and use of children, and abductions of and attacks on humanitarian workers. We pay tribute to AMISOM. and Somalia's security forces for their efforts to combat that threat.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“They represent the lives of people who must be saved, including women and children. The Council should act decisively and in a unified manner. We should realize that under such circumstances time is not on our side. In that light, we commend the efforts of the Secretary-General and fully support his personal involvement aimed at preventing the repetition of the situation we saw in Somalia in 2011, when hundreds of thousands of people perished. Now is the time forjoint action and for our unified support and assistance to the Government and the people of Somalia. It would be totally unacceptable for the United Nations, or the international community in general, to allow famine to devastate the country once again. We welcome all international efforts aimed at preventing such a scenario.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“With that in mind, I would like to single out three specific challenges that Somalia is facing today. First, the dire humanitarian situation unfortunately continues to deteriorate with every passing day. According to recent data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF, malnutrition and drought-related diseases are on the rise, and cholera has spread to 11 ofthe country's 18 regions. Drought- and conflict-related displacement also continues to increase. Half of the population is in need of food and humanitarian assistance. Approximately 1.4 million children are at risk of dying imminently from severe malnutrition as famine looms in Somalia and neighbouring countries. Those numbers are more than abstract statistics.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“Yet they represent a historic milestone on the road to peace and reconciliation for the nation, achieved against a backdrop of continued security challenges, especially terrorist threats. That positive electoral experience should facilitate preparations for the next step - ensuring universal suffrage in Somalia. Further international assistance, in particular through the commendable efforts of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), remains instrumental. As the famous eighteenth-century English writer Samuel Johnson once quipped, "the future is purchased by the present".”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“Like others, we are heartened to see the significant progress that has been made since 2012 on the political and security fronts in Somalia. The most substantial strides have been in the electoral area. It was a long- distance election marathon with many hurdles along the way. Yet at the finish line we witnessed the most peaceful and inclusive electoral process that Somalia has had in the past several decades. That indicates a clear success. It is truly remarkable that the representation of women in political life has increased by 70 per cent since the previous elections. I am confident that that will have a positive impact not only on the further political empowerment of women, but also on the overall success of peacebuilding endeavours in Somalia. We understand that elections alone cannot end the instability in the country.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“Let me begin by expressing Ukraine's deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims of yesterday's act of terror. Our prayers go to all Londoners, and we believe that we all have to remain united and dig deep to get to the bottom of the attack and those responsible for it. I would like to thank you, Sir, for presiding over today's important meeting personally. We appreciate the United Kingdom's leadership in the Council on the issue of Somalia, including by steering the Council's field mission to Mogadishu in May 2016. I am also grateful to the briefers for their insightful updates. And I would like to express our full support for the President of Somalia and his commitment to bringing sustainable peace and prosperity to his country.”
2017-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7905 (2017) · source
“In that regard, I have to remind the Council that the official medal that was produced by the Russian Federation for the so-called return of Crimea has the dates on it, starting with 20 February, which is the day before that agreement was brought to the attention of the Security Council by the representative of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the Russian Federation started - not just planned, but started - the annexation of Crimea the day before we reached the first agreement and while President Yanukovych was still in power.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Ipromise, Mr. President, that this will be my last statement. The Russian representative was recalling yet another detail of our long and bloody conflict. The so-called agreements of 21 February- which he just cited-were made possible with help of the four parties. But the representative of the Russian Federation has chosen not to remember the fourth party - Russia was at the table. Although three members of the international negotiating team helped Ukraine, the opposition and the President to sign the agreement, the Russian representative was the only party who did not sign the document. Obviously, he was not happy with the agreement between the opposition and then President, Mr. Yanukovych.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“If the Russian Federation is so fearful that the Ukrainian forces will regain control over the territory of Ukraine, I must remind the representative of the Russian Federation that the idea, which was supported by everyone, was that Ukrainian territory should be returned to Ukraine. But before that, the area around the Ukrainian-Russian border should be placed under the monitoring and verification of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, thereby preventing more weapons and more mercenaries from entering our territory, a practice that we have repeatedly brought to the attention of the Council.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I will be brief. I will not add to the attempts to impose more truths, half- truths and lies that members of the Council have been subjected to for quite a long time. If we are going into such details, I would like to bring to the Council's attention, including that of the Russian representative, that when we speak of the so-called Minsk package of measures, we seem to have forgotten about the initial Minsk agreement, which was signed almost half a year ago. Why have we forgotten about it? Because the Russian Federation all the time refers only to the Minsk agreement of 12 February. I must remind the Council that the original Minsk agreement mentions the special security area along the Ukrainian corridor monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“We therefore do not believe that the draft statement represents an honest attempt on the part of the Russian representative to bring those tragic events to our attention, because Russian media have already reported on the draft statement well before we were given a chance to read it.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“With regard to the draft press statement proposed by the Russian Federation, there is no issue with regard to the first part, because it represents, as I mentioned earlier, what all of us here believe and what our leaders have confirmed, namely, that we have to support the Normandy format and the Minsk agreements. In connection with the tragic events in Odessa, my native city and not that of the Russian representative, I believe that we have to investigate all of the events there, starting from the Russians' actions in Crimea and their support and incitement that lead to the killing of people, some of whom were burned alive, in numerous Ukrainian cities, using knives and other means that were provided by the Russians.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“The statement was full of the usual "Ds": distract, distort and deny. We have heard it all before. I have made a very serious effort to familiarize myself with all of the public statements on this subject made by the Russian representative up to now. They add up to 84 pages that are worth reading. Most of the elements are well-formulated and resemble the truth, but only if one allows oneself to forget one principal thing: who came into whose land? Who appropriated the land? Who started killing people? Who sent in additional tanks and mercenaries?”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I sincerely thank all members of the Security Council for giving me a chance to speak today. It has been a very important discussion for Ukraine, and I think that all of us agree, at least, that the Minsk agreements are the only way forward, in their entirety and complexity, starting from the ceasefire and the withdrawal of weapons and foreign troops, inter alia, to the political resolution, the changes in our Constitution and the decentralization of Ukraine. Incidentally, Ukraine has already started the process of decentralization, and the only part that is not decentralized is held by pro-Russian proxies. With regard to the Russian representative's statement, I am sick and tired, having been in these negotiations for more than two years, of the accusations of a bloody revolt in Ukraine.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“We are ready to do our part of the job, but I am afraid that the keys to sustainable de-escalation and a subsequent long- lasting settlement reside in Moscow. It is Moscow that has to produce those keys and open the door to a better, peaceful future without death, hatred or sanctions.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“They include a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian film-director and native Crimean-Ukrainian citizens. We approved a sanctions list against individuals who took part in mock trials of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, the so-called Savchenko-Sentsov list. We expect that our international partners will join that initiative. The only thing we are interested in is achieving a lasting, just and fair peaceful solution. That will not be an easy task to accomplish, we know, but anything short of it would be unacceptable to the Ukrainian people, whose best sons and daughters already paid the ultimate price in defending their homeland.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“President Poroshenko recently proposed deploying a police mission in Donbas, which we believe would help to ensure a safe and secure environment in Donbas, particularly in the context of local elections. The status and mandate of the mission, and its umbrella and composition, can be discussed later. We are open to negotiations and will continue to call on the international community, including the United Nations and OSCE member States, to engage constructively in putting the initiative into practice. In conclusion, I would again like to draw the Council's attention to the issue ofhuman rights. At least 11 Ukrainian citizens have become political prisoners in Russia.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Our experts have been to Minsk more than 30 times in order to clarify how a political resolution can be achieved and how we can rebuild our ruined economy, revive the region and decentralize our political system. I have no time today to discuss those issues, but I would like to touch on one very key point, the elections, which are not only essential to the peace process but are becoming a reality. We have prepared every piece of the necessary legislation and are ready to discuss their modalities, as our leaders agreed on in Minsk. What we need, in order to kick-start the election process, in accordance with OSCE standards and in conformity with Ukrainian law, as agreed to by our leaders, is a better security situation on the ground. Let us be reasonable. If there is no security, nobody will hold or observe the elections.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“The Russian proxies are systematically ruining the social and economic infrastructure of Donbas, once Ukraine's industrial powerhouse. They are dismantling entire factories and taking them to Russia. Vast reserves of coal in Donbas are also being stolen and transported to Russia. Ukraine has lost more than 20 per cent of its gross domestic product as a result of the Russian aggression. And that is on top of the economic war that the Russian Federation has effectively waged on us by blocking our exports as well as the transit of goods to Central Asian States and China. All of this, I should remind the Council, is in contravention of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, signed in 1994, whereby the signatories promised not to exert economic pressure on Ukraine. We are totally committed to a political settlement.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“The last time I checked, one could hardly buy a decent knife in a hardware store, let alone multiple launch rocket systems and jet flamethrowers - which, by the way, are not to be found in the stores of the Ukrainian armed forces. We would greatly appreciate it if the Russian Federation would take the lead and kindly offer to safely store their beloved separatists' deadly toys on Russian territory, verifiable by the OSCE, thereby removing another stumbling block in the way of a long-awaited peace, with the aim of showing real interest in the Minsk process and bringing a lifting of the sanctions closer. I do not want take up too much of the Council's precious time, so our Permanent Mission will be happy to provide members with the information I have here, which will be made available later.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“There are no signs of positive change in the difficult security front, either. Russia has organized and deployed in Donbas a 34,000-strong hybrid military force consisting of regular Russian troops as well as foreign and local militants. Russian generals and military officers are providing direct command- and-control of that illegal military entity, which is impressively heavily armed. Specifically, as of now the terrorists have at least 470 tanks, 870 armoured combat vehicles, 450 tube artillery systems and 190 multiple launch rocket systems, operated by so-called disgruntled miners. That is more than most NATO members have in their regular armed forces, and yet it was allegedly acquired in local hardware stores.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Me'decins Sans Frontieres has been accused of espionage and banned from the region by the Russian proxies, despite the Russian Federation's promise to put additional pressure on the illegal groups to let that international humanitarian organization into the region. Yesterday, we barely managed to get our Vice-Speaker of Parliament into Minsk; she was leading a working group on humanitarian issues of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk but was banned by Russia for five years, a ban that Belarus supported. And this despite the fact that Belarus offered its capital for peace talks. We are carefully collecting the evidence of these crimes, and we will use it later on. One of these collections makes for very bad reading, with a lot of bad pictures, but our delegation will circulate the information.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Along with that, we remain deeply concerned about the continuing exacerbation of the humanitarian situation owing to the unwillingness of the illegal armed groups in Donbas to lift their blockade of the activities of the international humanitarian organizations in the region. After months of negotiations, there are still 120 Ukrainians being held captive in Donbas whom we cannot get out, regardless of the all-for-all formula that appeared to have been agreed on by everybody. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross has not been allowed to visit them, nor has it been permitted to search for some 800 missing persons.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“On a personal note, I recently saw an 11-year-old boy from the small Ukrainian town of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, who is currently being treated in a Montreal hospital and taken care of by Canada's Ukrainian community. He was on a walk with his brother and a couple of friends and picked up a strange object that cost him three limbs. He is not just recovering in hospital, he does not know yet that he now has no younger brother. Another serious matter is the restoration of damaged economic and social infrastructure in order to provide livable conditions for local civilians on both sides of the contact line. The repairs of the damaged facilities, including water pipelines, can be done only after we have ensured that the security situation has genuinely de-escalated and provided personal safety guarantees for the repairer personnel.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“On 18 April, in the city of Donetsk, militants threatened to fire on OSCE monitors and detain them, and that is the least of the problems. On 25 April Mr. Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, publicly threatened to shoot OSCE observers ifa police mission were deployed in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. We are extremely concerned about the fact that illegal armed groups have continued to shell Ukrainian armed forces' positions and civilian sites, especially in places located near the agreed areas for demining. Despite such provocations, we are fully committed to completing the demining of all the agreed-on priority areas, and we are grateful to the United Nations demining experts planning to help.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I would like to remind the Council that full and safe access for the Monitoring Mission throughout Ukraine, including along the Ukrainian-Russian State border, and the creation of a security area along that border, were stipulated in the original Minsk agreement of September 2014, something that our Russian colleagues have tended to forget recently. The Special Monitoring Mission reported that 95 per cent of all the freedom-of- movement incidents during this period were instigated by militants. Specifically, on 7 April, a Monitoring Mission vehicle was hit by bullets near Snizhne and Mission observers were threatened at gunpoint in the village of Smile. On 9 April, a Monitoring Mission patrol came under militant fire in Zhovanka.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Only this week, between 19 and 26 April, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission reported about 500 cases of ceasefire violations by illegal armed groups, indicating that the intensity of fighting was at a level that had not been seen since August 2014, a time when Russian troops massively invaded Ukrainian territory. Russia's proxies in Donbas are still presenting major obstacles to the ability of the Special Monitoring Mission to access all the areas under their control and to verify the ceasefire and withdrawal of weapons.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I am here today to provide the international community with the relevant information on the actual state of affairs on the ground and help to create impetus for a genuine political process aimed at finding a sustainable, peaceful solution to the conflict. Ukraine is convinced that it can be settled only on the basis of the Minsk agreements. I would like to emphasize a couple of the most important points. Since all sides, including Russia, committed to the ceasefire, after some ups and downs the situation along the line of contact has recently deteriorated, as we have heard.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I would like to be absolutely clear: I am humbled by the sheer magnitude of the attention given by the Security Council to the Ukrainian issue. As a matter of fact, we do not want the Russian aggression against Ukraine to be transformed into yet another item on the Council's agenda where, despite regular debates, we see no tangible progress towards a settlement. Since taking our seat in the Council, the Ukrainian delegation has demonstrated the utmost restraint in bringing up this subject. But as has already been mentioned by the briefers today, the security situation is not improving, and the Minsk agreements are not being implemented.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Tatar leaders warn that the ban potentially threatens more than 2,000 members of some 250 central and local Mejlis structures, which are traditionally elected by Crimean Tatars. At any time, they can be accused of conducting extremist activity, prosecuted and re-expelled from Crimea. More than 130 criminal trials against Crimean Tatars have been held, and 21 Crimean Tatar representatives have been kidnapped - 9 are still missing and 3 were recently found dead. I am calling today on the Security Council to demand that the Russian Federation restore the rights of the Crimean Tatars, ensure that the sham justice meted out by the Crimean courts and Prosecutor's Office be halted, abrogate its decision to ban Mejlis, and, in a broader sense, just get off our lands in Crimea and the east of Ukraine.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Then it was Stalin, now it is the new Great Leader. People are disappearing. The only representative body - the Mejlis - was banned by occupation forces under the false pretext - one that has become very widespread - that it was engaged in extremist activity. Incidentally, a couple of days ago, a Russian citizen and resident of Moscow had her time in jail extended for having been so extremist as to have Ukrainian books in her possession. That is a serious crime indeed, given that the detainee is a director of the only official Ukrainian library in Moscow. But back to Crimean Tatars, whose homes are being raided and whose unique culture and language are being endangered once again.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“On 23 April, just the other day, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five were wounded as a result of shelling by militants. Last night, we witnessed the tragic deaths of three civilians. There were also seven wounded; they were probably caught in cross-fire. That incident will have to be properly investigated. Ukraine has already invited OSCE monitors to the site. This war is very hybrid in nature, but it is very real in terms of spilled blood. It is claiming victims regardless of their ethnicity or the languages they speak. They are Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Germans, Poles, Jews; all of us are the victims. But there is one particular nation whose fate is again at stake - the Crimean Tatars. This indigenous population of the Crimean peninsula is again suffering, as it did 60 years ago, from Moscow's brutal grip.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“As we have heard today from the briefers - and I am grateful to the Secretariat, the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine for familiarizing the Council with the state of affairs on the ground - over 30,000 Ukrainians have fallen victim to the hostilities in Donbas, with approximately 10,000 killed and 21,000 wounded. More than 1.7 million Ukrainians have had to leave their homes and have become internally displaced persons. Every day Ukrainian families lose a son, a father, a husband, a brother. Every day Ukrainian men and women are wounded, often becoming physically and psychologically handicapped for the rest of their lives.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Ukrainians are deeply grateful to all donor nations, the five permanent members of the Security Council, the Group of Seven, the European Union, the EBRD, industry and international organizations for bringing efforts and resources together and striving to turn the page on the biggest technological disaster in our history. This is a great achievement, and we do believe that, by such concerted efforts, we will be able to resolve all outstanding issues, regardless of how impossibly complicated they might seem at the moment. Unfortunately, this is not the only issue that brought me here today. As if the land of Ukraine had not suffered enough already, as Council members know, we have been struggling for more than two years against the aggression of our neighbour and our formerly brotherly nation, the Russian Federation.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“Our prayers go to the families of those who died or who were otherwise affected by the tragedy in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and far beyond our borders. Two days ago, I was at the Chernobyl station and witnessed the signing by the representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and our Ministry of Energy, in the presence of the President of Ukraine, of the additional agreement to permit the international community to gather the resources needed to finalize the Chernobyl project. I am happy to report that the new confinement - the biggest moving structure ever built by humankind - is close to completion. In November, it will start rolling over the station, thereby effectively sealing off the remnants of the reactor and preventing further radioactive contamination.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source
“I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for responding to our request to convene today's meeting. I would also like to congratulate you, Sir, on your successful presidency of the Security Council this month and to thank for your constructive and effective work. My only regret is that this meeting could not be held on Friday so that my Minister could make it to New York from Beijing, which he is currently visiting, to address the Council. I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank the United Nations and its States Members that took part in the General Assembly meeting held a few days ago (see A/70/PV.92) to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the sad day when the Chernobyl disaster occurred.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7683 (2016) · source