UN / UKRAINE SECURITY COUNCIL

STORY: UN / UKRAINE SECURITY COUNCIL
TRT: 6:05
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 FEBRUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY

21 FEBRUARY 2022, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, Security Council
2. Wide shot, ambassadors speaking ahead of meeting
3. Wide shot, Ukrainian ambassador being seat at Security Council table
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary Anne DiCarlo Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations:
“Before the current, already dangerous conditions escalate further, we call on all relevant actors to focus their efforts on an immediate cessation of hostilities. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected, and actions and statements that may worsen the situation must be avoided.”
5. Wide shot, Security Council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary Anne DiCarlo Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, United Nations:
“The next hours and days will be critical. The risk of major conflict is real and needs to be prevented at all costs. I can assure you of the full commitment of the Secretary-General to work toward a diplomatic resolution of the current crisis.”
7. Wide shot, Russian ambassador and DiCarlo at Security Council meeting
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“President Putin is testing our international system, he is testing our resolve and seeing just how far he can push us all. He wants to demonstrate that through force, he can make a farce of the UN. We must act together in response to this crisis.”
9. Wide shot, Security Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Today, President Putin has torn the Minsk agreements to shreds. We have been clear that we do not believe he will stop at that. In light of President Putin’s latest actions, we must all stand up for the principles upon which this organization was founded.”
11. Wide shot, Brazilian and Chinese ambassador at Security Council meeting
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“In this moment, no one can stand on the sidelines. We must make it clear that an attack on Ukraine is an attack on the sovereignty of every UN Member State and the UN Charter – and that it will be met with swift and severe consequences. We continue to believe that the diplomatic table is the only place where responsible nations resolve their differences. That is the only place to preserve peace.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Barbara Woodward, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
“The Council must be united in: calling on Russia to de-escalate immediately; condemning aggression against a sovereign nation, and defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine; calling on Russia to respect its obligations under the Charter to the peaceful resolution of disputes. Russia has brought us to the brink. We urge Russia to step back.”
15. Wide shot, Security Council
16. SOUNDBITE (English Translation) Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
(Through interpreter) “And today, we can see that many colleagues want to sign up to the idea that the Minsk agreements are dead, but that's not the case. And Kiev is still bound to implement them. We remain open to diplomacy for a diplomatic solution. However, allowing a new bloodbath in the Donbass is something we do not intend to do. Unfortunately, we are forced to note the extremely negative role played in all of this by our Western colleagues led by the USA instead of forcing Kiev to implement its obligations. They have merely been openly egging Ukraine on repeating the meaningless mantra that the obligations under the Minsk agreement are not being implemented by Russia, which as we've repeatedly underscored is not even a party to the Minsk agreements.”
17. Med shot, Ukrainian ambassador
18. SOUNDBITE (English Translation) Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
(Through interpreter) “I would like to call upon our Western colleagues to think twice, to set emotions to one side, and not to make the situation worse. No one other than you can hold back the militaristic plans of Kiev and force it to stop the shelling and provocations against the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, which in these new conditions could have extremely dangerous consequences. In accordance with the agreements that were signed today and on the basis of their requests from the Republics, peacekeeping functions on their territories will be carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
19. Wide shot, Security Council
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
“In accordance with Article 51 of the Charter, Ukraine has the inherent right to individual and collective self-defence. We are committed to a peaceful and diplomatic path, and we will stay firmly on it. We are on our land. We are not afraid of anything or anyone. We owe nothing to anyone. And we will not give away anything to anyone. There should be no doubts whatsoever.”
21. Med shot, British and United States ambassadors
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations:
“The United Nations is sick. That's a matter of fact. It's been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin. Will it succumb to this virus? It is in the hands of the membership. Today, the Kremlin copy-pasted word by word the decree on Georgia of 2008; word by word; copy-pasted, copy-pasted. No creativity whatsoever. The copying machine in the Kremlin works very well. Who is the next among the members of the United Nations?”
23. Wide shot, Security Council

UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said “the next hours and days will be critical” for the situation in Ukraine adding that the risk of major conflict “is real and needs to be prevented at all costs.”

Addressing an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Monday evening (21 Feb), DiCarlo said the UN regrets the decision of Russia to recognize the independence of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as the order to deploy Russian troops into Eastern Ukraine, reportedly on a ‘peacekeeping mission.’

The Under-Secretary-General expressed concern by the escalating shelling across the contact line, reportedly leading to a number of casualties. She said, while the UN is not in a position to verify the numerous claims and allegations made by various actors, the Organization is deeply concerned about the reports of civilian casualties, targeting of critical civilian infrastructure, and ongoing evacuations.

DiCarlo said, “Before the current, already dangerous conditions escalate further, we call on all relevant actors to focus their efforts on an immediate cessation of hostilities. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected, and actions and statements that may worsen the situation must be avoided.”

The UN political chief said negotiation is the only way to address the existing differences among the key actors regarding regional security issues, and the settlement of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in accordance with Security Council resolution 2202.

She noted that the UN is committed to stay and deliver and remains fully operational in Ukraine, including in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. She stressed that the safety and security of all UN staff is of utmost concern to the Organization and must be respected by all parties.

DiCarlo assured the Council of the “full commitment of the Secretary-General to work toward a diplomatic resolution of the current crisis.”

United States ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the international community must meet the moment and not look away. She said Russia’s clear attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity was unprovoked and violates a basic principle of international law. She stressed that the move by Russian President Vladimir Putin is clearly the basis for Russia’s attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine, the consequences of which would be felt far beyond Ukraine’s borders.

Thomas-Greenfield said, “President Putin is testing our international system, he is testing our resolve and seeing just how far he can push us all. He wants to demonstrate that through force, he can make a farce of the UN. We must act together in response to this crisis.”

The US ambassador said President Putin has “torn the Minsk agreements to shreds” and underscored that her country does not “believe he will stop at that.” She added, “In light of President Putin’s latest actions, we must all stand up for the principles upon which this organization was founded.”

Thomas-Greenfield said, “In this moment, no one can stand on the sidelines. We must make it clear that an attack on Ukraine is an attack on the sovereignty of every UN Member State and the UN Charter – and that it will be met with swift and severe consequences. We continue to believe that the diplomatic table is the only place where responsible nations resolve their differences. That is the only place to preserve peace.”

British ambassador Barbara Woodward said the actions Russia has chosen to take today will have severe and far-reaching consequences and make mockery of the commitments it has made through the Budapest Memorandum and the Minsk Agreements. She said, in seeking to redraw borders by force, Russia’s actions show blatant contempt for international law.

Woodward said, “This Council must be united in: calling on Russia to de-escalate immediately; condemning aggression against a sovereign nation, and defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine; calling on Russia to respect its obligations under the Charter to the peaceful resolution of disputes. Russia has brought us to the brink. We urge Russia to step back.”

For his part, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said “Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics” had declared independence since 2014, but Russia only recognized them on Monday, despite a high level of support for doing so both in the regions themselves and in Russian society from the very beginning.

He said Russia urged the Ukrainian Government to listen to the aspirations of the people living in Donbass and the Russian speaking residents of the country, but this was instead met with violence. He said the Ukrainian Government did everything it could to sabotage and ultimately destroy the Minsk agreements, adding that Kiev refused to speak directly with the representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Nebenzia recalled that in all other conflicts the Security Council calls for direct dialogue between the parties, but Ukraine seems to be the exception to this rule. He said Russian recognition of what he called the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics does not change the makeup of the parties to the Minsk Agreements as the two had already declared their independence. He stressed that Russia is not a party to the Agreements.

The Russia ambassador said, “Today, we can see that many colleagues want to sign up to the idea that the Minsk agreements are dead, but that's not the case. And Kiev is still bound to implement them. We remain open to diplomacy for a diplomatic solution. However, allowing a new bloodbath in the Donbass is something we do not intend to do. Unfortunately, we are forced to note the extremely negative role played in all of this by our Western colleagues led by the USA instead of forcing Kiev to implement its obligations. They have merely been openly egging Ukraine on repeating the meaningless mantra that the obligations under the Minsk agreement are not being implemented by Russia, which as we've repeatedly underscored is not even a party to the Minsk agreements.”

Nebenzia said some 60,000 refugees have fled to Russia as a result of Ukrainian shelling of the regions. He called upon Western countries to “think twice, to set emotions to one side, and not to make the situation worse.” He added, “No one other than you can hold back the militaristic plans of Kiev and force it to stop the shelling and provocations against the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, which in these new conditions could have extremely dangerous consequences. In accordance with the agreements that were signed today and on the basis of their requests from the Republics, peacekeeping functions on their territories will be carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”

The Russian ambassador said, in the last few days, with the sharp intensification in military activity from the Ukrainian army along the contact line, the lives of thousands of civilians was put under real threat once again, as in 2014 and 2015. He said the main aim of Russia’s decision was to protect and preserve those people, adding that this is more important than the threats his country was receiving.

Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine have been and will remain unchangeable, regardless of any statements and actions by the Russian Federation. He said Ukraine unequivocally qualifies the recent Russian actions as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that the political leadership of the Russian Federation bears full responsibility for the outcomes of the decision taken.

Kyslytsya said the steps taken by Russia undermine peaceful efforts and ruin the existing negotiating frameworks. He said Ukraine expects clear and efficient steps of support by its partners.

The Ukrainian ambassador said his country is committed to a political, diplomatic settlement and would not succumb to provocations. He added, “In accordance with Article 51 of the Charter, Ukraine has the inherent right to individual and collective self-defence. We are committed to a peaceful and diplomatic path, and we will stay firmly on it. We are on our land. We are not afraid of anything or anyone. We owe nothing to anyone. And we will not give away anything to anyone. There should be no doubts whatsoever.”

Kyslytsya said Ukraine demands that Russia cancel the decision on recognition and return to negotiations table. He condemned the order to deploy additional Russian troops in Ukrainian territories and demanded the immediate and completely verifiable withdrawal of the troops.

The Ukrainian ambassador said, “The United Nations is sick. That's a matter of fact. It's been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin. Will it succumb to this virus? It is in the hands of the membership. Today, the Kremlin copy-pasted word by word the decree on Georgia of 2008; word by word; copy-pasted, copy-pasted. No creativity whatsoever. The copying machine in the Kremlin works very well. Who is the next among the members of the United Nations?”