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STORY: UN / UKRAINE MINSK AGREEMENTS
TRT: 05:33
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 17 FEBRUARY 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
17 FEBRUARY 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, United Nations:
“The members of the Security Council are aware that the United Nations in the previous eight years has not been formally part of any mechanism related to the peace process in Ukraine, such as the Normandy Format. The United Nations was not invited to be a participant in the various negotiations in Minsk, or to the 2014 and 2015 agreements themselves. Nor was the United Nations involved in the implementation efforts led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Trilateral Contact Group.”
4. Med shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, United Nations:
“Long before the situation in Ukraine evolved into the present tragedy, the United Nations stressed the importance of political will by all sides and at the same time cautioned all relevant actors about the dangers of complacency regarding the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and the risks of keeping the conflict unresolved. The United Nations has also used all opportunities, including before this Council, to urge all sides to avoid any unilateral steps that could deepen the divide or depart from the spirit and letter of the Agreements.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, United Nations:
“The United Nations has also used all opportunities, including before this Council, to urge all sides to avoid any unilateral steps that could deepen the divide or depart from the spirit and letter of the Agreements.”
8. Med shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, United Nations:
“This is also what we have learned from the experience of the Minsk process: Peace is not just about signing an agreement. We need sustainable and implementable peace that addresses the root causes of the conflict and is in line with the UN Charter and international law. This is particularly important given the complexity of the current context in Ukraine, but also with regards to its implications for the future of the European security architecture and indeed, the international order itself.”
10. Med shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Sajdik, Special Representative for the Minsk negotiations from 2015-2019, OSCE:
“The number of civilian victims significantly decreased over the years, 2019 being the first year in which no child lost its life due to conflict related activities.”
12. Med shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Sajdik, Special Representative for the Minsk negotiations from 2015-2019, OSCE:
“Negotiations in Minsk were one pillar of these efforts. The second pillar was assigned to the Normandy Format. In the lihght of the previous international efforts for peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine. I can at the end of my statement only express my profound shock and disappointment with the developments since February 24 of the last year.”
14. Med shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russia:
“We would like to also draw your attention to the role played by yet one more body whose leadership unfortunately we couldn't listen to today. From the very beginning of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, the UN Secretary decided to bury its head in the sand, ostrich like we did not hear from them direct criticism against anyone when Kyiv was waging a real war against its citizens in eastern regions. We didn't hear appeals for direct dialogue with Donbass as is required in the Security Council Resolution 2202. Supposedly, the UN do not have the authority to do that. Does a unanimous Security Council resolution give you if it doesn't give you authority? The same time since the very first day of the special military operation the Secretariat full in following the western countries continues with anti-Russian cliches and direct allegations against Russia stating that they're being guided in this way with the General Assembly decision. Not consensual decision, let me underscore.
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“Every year, the Russian delegation assured us of Moscow's commitment to peaceful resolution of the conflict on the basis of the Minsk agreements. Let me refresh your memory and remind you of what the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said at the Council's meeting exactly a year ago on the 17th of February 2022. I quote, there is no alternative to that mementos document for Ukraine. End of quote. And four days later, on the 21st of February 2022 Russia killed the Minsk Agreement brutally and deliberately. When Putin recognized the so-called independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
Top UN official for Europe, Central Asia and Americas Miroslav Jenča said, “Peace is not just about signing an agreement. We need sustainable and implementable peace that addresses the root causes of the conflict and is in line with the UN Charter and international law. This is particularly important given the complexity of the current context in Ukraine, but also with regards to its implications for the future of the European security architecture and indeed, the international order itself.”
Assistant Secretary-General Jenča today (17 Feb) briefed the Council on the package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, also known as the Minsk II agreement.
The senior UN official for the region said, “The members of the Security Council are aware that the United Nations in the previous eight years has not been formally part of any mechanism related to the peace process in Ukraine, such as the Normandy Format.”
He explained, “The United Nations was not invited to be a participant in the various negotiations in Minsk, or to the 2014 and 2015 agreements themselves. Nor was the United Nations involved in the implementation efforts led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Trilateral Contact Group.”
Jenča also said, “Long before the situation in Ukraine evolved into the present tragedy, the United Nations stressed the importance of political will by all sides and at the same time cautioned all relevant actors about the dangers of complacency regarding the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and the risks of keeping the conflict unresolved.”
He stressed, “The United Nations has also used all opportunities, including before this Council, to urge all sides to avoid any unilateral steps that could deepen the divide or depart from the spirit and letter of the Agreements.”
According to Jenča, “The United Nations has also used all opportunities, including before this Council, to urge all sides to avoid any unilateral steps that could deepen the divide or depart from the spirit and letter of the Agreements.”
Martin Sajdik, former Special Representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group also briefed the Council.
He said, “The number of civilian victims significantly decreased over the years, 2019 being the first year in which no child lost its life due to conflict related activities.”
He also said, “Negotiations in Minsk were one pillar of these efforts. The second pillar was assigned to the Normandy Format. In the light of the previous international efforts for peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine. I can at the end of my statement only express my profound shock and disappointment with the developments since February 24 of the last year.”
The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, Vasily Nebenzya, said to the Council, “We would like to also draw your attention to the role played by yet one more body whose leadership unfortunately we couldn't listen to today. From the very beginning of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, the UN Secretary decided to bury its head in the sand, ostrich like we did not hear from them direct criticism against anyone when Kyiv was waging a real war against its citizens in eastern regions.”
He continued, “We didn't hear appeals for direct dialogue with Donbass as is required in the Security Council Resolution 2202. Supposedly, the UN do not have the authority to do that. Does a unanimous Security Council resolution give you if it doesn't give you authority?”
Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said, “Every year, the Russian delegation assured us of Moscow's commitment to peaceful resolution of the conflict on the basis of the Minsk agreements.”
“Let me refresh your memory and remind you of what the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said at the Council's meeting exactly a year ago on the 17th of February 2022 ‘there is no alternative to that mementos document for Ukraine’,” he said.
Kyslytsya continued, “And four days later, on the 21st of February 2022 Russia killed the Minsk Agreement brutally and deliberately. When Putin recognized the so-called independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
