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7400th Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine
7400th Meeting (AM)
Speakers Call for Commitment to Minsk Agreements, Unfettered Access
Despite progress on the ground following the February ceasefire, the situation in Ukraine remained fragile and far from irreversible, the Security Council heard today from three senior United Nations officials, as members called for full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said the ceasefire had not taken hold firmly across the region and violations had been reported frequently. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) special mission had monitored some withdrawal of heavy military equipment from the line of contact. However, due to a lack of access and freedom of movement of its personnel, the mission remained unable to verify the true extent of the process.
As per the commitment undertaken by the parties of Minsk, full and unfettered access must be given to the OSCE and withdrawal of heavy weaponry must commence urgently, transparently and comprehensively, he said. There would be no traction on the political track unless the prerequisite ceasefire and withdrawal of weapons were fully implemented. Eastern Ukraine still appeared to be in limbo as full implementation of the Minsk package of measures was awaited.
With reference to President Petro Poroshenko’s 17 February statement noting that Ukraine would be requesting a possible deployment of a United Nations-mandated peace mission to that country, he said Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin had held discussions with the Secretary-General and other senior United Nations officials. The Foreign Minister was informed that was a decision for the Council and that the Secretariat would be guided by decision. No formal request had been received from Ukraine.
John Ging, Director of the Operational Division at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that Ukraine, which a year ago had no displaced people, today had almost 1.1 million registered as such, with more than 100,000 displaced in the last month. Displacement continued as pauses in the fighting in some locations had allowed those trapped to flee. Over 2 million people were living in conflict-affected areas, the majority with limited access to basic services.
Five million people across the country were in need of humanitarian assistance and 1.4 million had no access to health care, he said. Those remaining in conflict-affected areas faced ongoing security threats due to military activities. Lives had been lost, basic services had been disrupted, access to banking was limited, food and non-food items were scarce and expensive and an upsurge of lawlessness had been observed.
The ability of humanitarian actors to reach those in need with lifesaving assistance was imperative, he said, calling on all parties to facilitate the safe and unimpeded passage of aid. Additional funding to address the immediate humanitarian needs was urgently needed, as only 13 per cent of the $316 million appeal had been received or pledged.
In his briefing, Ivan Šimonović, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said that from mid-April 2014 to 15 February 2015, at least 5,665 people had been documented as killed — a figure that had risen to at least 5,820 by 5 March. As full casualty reports were pending, he estimated that the total number of people killed in eastern Ukraine had surpassed 6,000.
Highlighting “disturbing” trends, he cited an increased use of sophisticated and heavy weaponry, which had been used during the 24 January attack on Mariupol, killing 31 people. In the east, up until the 15 February ceasefire, and in the Debaltseve area beyond the ceasefire, there was indiscriminate shelling of highly populated civilian areas, in both areas controlled by the Government and those by armed groups.
The situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was deteriorating, he said, with systematic human rights violations affecting mostly Crimean Tatars and those who had opposed the March referendum. It was “highly important” that Nadiya Savchenko — who had been in solitary confinement and on a hunger strike for more than 80 days — be released, either under the “all for all” formula or on humanitarian grounds.
Making statements after the briefing today were the representatives of Lithuania, United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, China, Jordan, Chile, Spain, Angola, Venezuela, New Zealand, Chad, Malaysia, Nigeria, France and Ukraine.
The representatives of the Russian Federation, United States, United Kingdom and Ukraine made further statements.
The meeting began at 10:06 a.m. and ended at 12:30 p.m.
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