Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / UKRAINE MINSK AGREEMENTS
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / UKRAINE MINSK AGREEMENTS
TRT: 04:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Med shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
12 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations:
“The approaching anniversary of the invasion is not only an occasion to recount the horrors of the past two years, but also a reminder that the armed conflict in Ukraine did not begin on 24 February 2022, but has been ongoing in the country’s east since 2014.”
4. Med shot, Security Council
5. UPSOUND (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations:
“The United Nations was not 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, nor to the 2014 and 2015 agreements. Neither 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. We therefore refer to those directly involved to reflect on the details of these processes and the implementation of the related agreements.”
6. Med shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations:
“Last week in this Council, Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo once again raised alarm about the increasing civilian casualties and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine. She also regretted the lack of prospects for peace. Indeed, we remain concerned about the escalatory trajectory of this war with intensifying attacks on civilians, and acts that could further diminish the prospects for a just and lasting solution.”
8. Med shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russia:
“Ukraine's leadership made no secret that it was not prepared to implement the Minsk complex package of measures. Had they been implemented the tragedy that is taking place in Ukraine today would not have happened. A tragedy in which the US and the collective West are complicit as they try to achieve their geopolitical aims at the cost of Ukraine's citizens.”
10. Med shot, Security Council
SOUNDBITE (English) Robert A. Wood, Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations:
“But no matter how hard Russia tries, it cannot obscure the simple fact, it was Russia that ignored all commitments it made as a signatory of the Minsk agreements in 2014. It is Russia that is the aggressor, and Ukraine which is simply defending its people, its territorial integrity and its freedom in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter. But let us be clear this war is indeed a tragedy. Russia and no one else is responsible for this war.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
SOUNDBITE (English) James Kariuki, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United Kingdom:
“Two years ago, we urged Russia in this chamber to act in the interests of peace and to give the Minsk agreements a chance. The United Kingdom consistently called on all parties to implement their commitments under the Minsk agreements in full. Right up until Putin signed the decree, recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as so-called independent entities, three days later he invaded Ukraine.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“Today's meeting called by the Russian Federation to discuss the agreements it effectively killed is one more example of total waste of time and resources. And it has always been Russia's modus operandi to kill, international agreements, peace and security, credibility of international institutions and first and foremost, innocent people.”
14. Med shot, Security Council
15. SOUNBITE (English) Antje Leendertse, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Germany:
“After initial positive developments, Russia began to disrupt the process and ignore the Minsk agreements. It did so through administrative measures, including issuing Russian passports and holding elections to the Duma or the Russian parliament on occupied territories in 2021.”
16. Zoom out, meeting ended
A top UN official said that in the approaching anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine “is not only an occasion to recount the horrors of the past two years, but also a reminder that the armed conflict in Ukraine did not begin on 24 February 2022, but has been ongoing in the country’s east since 2014.”
Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Miroslav Jenča, today (12 Feb) briefed the Council on the package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.
He said, “The United Nations was not 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, nor to the 2014 and 2015 agreements.”
Jenča added, “Neither 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. We therefore refer to those directly involved to reflect on the details of these processes and the implementation of the related agreements.”
He continued, “Last week in this Council, Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo once again raised alarm about the increasing civilian casualties and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine. She also regretted the lack of prospects for peace.”
The Assistant Secretary-General noted, “indeed, we remain concerned about the escalatory trajectory of this war with intensifying attacks on civilians, and acts that could further diminish the prospects for a just and lasting solution.”
The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, Vasily Nebenzya, said to the Council, “Ukraine's leadership made no secret that it was not prepared to implement the Minsk complex package of measures. Had they been implemented the tragedy that is taking place in Ukraine today would not have happened.”
He continued, “a tragedy in which the US and the collective West are complicit as they try to achieve their geopolitical aims at the cost of Ukraine's citizens.”
The United States’ Deputy Permanent Representative, Robert A. Wood, said, “But no matter how hard Russia tries, it cannot obscure the simple fact, it was Russia that ignored all commitments it made as a signatory of the Minsk agreements in 2014.”
He continued, “It is Russia that is the aggressor, and Ukraine which is simply defending its people, its territorial integrity and its freedom in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
Wood added, “But let us be clear this war is indeed a tragedy. Russia and no one else is responsible for this war.”
Also addressing the Security Council, James Kariuki, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, said, “Two years ago, we urged Russia in this chamber to act in the interests of peace and to give the Minsk agreements a chance. The United Kingdom consistently called on all parties to implement their commitments under the Minsk agreements in full.”
He added, “right up until Putin signed the decree, recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as so-called independent entities, three days later he invaded Ukraine.
For his part, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukrainian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said, “Today's meeting called by the Russian Federation to discuss the agreements it effectively killed is one more example of total waste of time and resources.”
He added, “and it has always been Russia's modus operandi to kill, international agreements, peace and security, credibility of international institutions and first and foremost, innocent people.”
Antje Leendertse, Germany’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, mentioned the joint efforts of Germany and France to negotiate peace in Ukraine before 2022. She said, “After initial positive developments, Russia began to disrupt the process and ignore the Minsk agreements.”
She added, “It did so through administrative measures, including issuing Russian passports and holding elections to the Duma or the Russian parliament on occupied territories in 2021.”
The accords – also known as the Minsk II agreement, signed in 2015 by representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Russian Federation, Ukraine and leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions – outlined a series of political and military steps to settle the fighting between Government forces and separatists in eastern Ukraine.
