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STORY: UN / UKRAINE POLITICAL HUMANITARIAN
TRT: 6:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters, UN flag half-mast for the passing of Pope Francis
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“We condemn all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur. Directing attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“The UN remains engaged, particularly on the safety of navigation in the Black Sea to support global food security and maintain vital supply chains strained by the war. The continued exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, including the largest to date on 20 April involving 500 prisoners, shows that with political will, diplomacy can yield tangible results even in the most difficult circumstances.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine stands as an egregious challenge to these fundamental principles, jeopardizing stability in Europe and threatening the broader international order. The war in Ukraine is a war of choice. What is needed now is a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a critical first step towards ending the violence and creating the conditions for a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Attacks on healthcare services and health facilities are crippling access to maternal care. Pregnant women are now giving birth amid blackouts, medicine shortages and under attack, with a 12 per cent rise in birth complications reported by health workers. For many expectant mothers, basic, life-saving care is simply no longer available.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“I must emphasize once again: Under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian objects must be protected. This means that indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited. It also means that parties must take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm, whether they are launching attacks or defending against them.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Underfunding is forcing critical programmes to scale down, even as the operational environment becomes more complex and dangerous. Additional resources are needed now to save lives and sustain assistance.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kelley, Acting Alternate Representative, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, United States:
“Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve adorable peace. The burden for ending the war rests with Russia and with Ukraine. It is up to the leaders of both these countries to decide whether peace is possible. If both sides are ready to end the war, the United States will fully support their path to a lasting peace.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kelley, Acting Alternate Representative, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, United States:
“The benefits for Ukraine and Russia accepting the US proposal are immense. Their economies can begin to grow, their cities to rebuild, and their peoples to heal. Conversely, the risks that accompany more war are immeasurable. The harm would disproportionately fall on ordinary Ukrainians and Russian families, who overwhelmingly desire peace. We urge both Ukraine and Russia to accept peace. We ask our fellow council members and all UN member states to support the path to peace.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Today's meeting was requested by a number of the most stubborn European sponsors of the Kyiv regime. This is a reflection of their fear of being sidelined in the context of the new US administration as it seeks to arrive at a long-term solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Hence the desire to thwart this process and to restore for Ukraine Zelensky's image of a victim, which has been tarnished in recent months, in the light of the new facts that have surfaced.”
20. Wide shot, Security Council
21. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Nevertheless, the Russian and US dialog is ongoing. There will be discussions of a number of nuances for the future contours of the peace plan from the very start of the conflict. We announced that we preferred diplomatic methods for the attainment of the goals of our special military operation. And this is why Russia remains focused on achieving a sustained, long-term solution that would eradicate the root causes of the conflict and to prevent that from occurring.”
22. Wide shot, Security Council
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Betsa Mariana, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ukraine:
“Russia cannot be allowed to cherry pick the political convenient dates to announce a short lived ceasefire simply for PR purposes, or gain additional tactical advantages. Ukraine is ready to support a just, comprehensive and lasting peace. And this is what we are constantly proposing for at least 30 days. And we reconfirm this proposal.”
24. Wide shot, Security Council
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Betsa Mariana, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ukraine:
“Our position on peace negotiations is clear and consistent. Ukraine wants peace like no one else. However, we cannot accept peace at any cost. We cannot accept peace at any price. Any future arrangement has to respect Ukraine's redlines.”
26. Wide shot, Security Council
UN chief of political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo condemned “all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur,” reiterating that “direct attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”
The Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Council that today’s meeting is taking place at a potential inflection point in the three-year war in Ukraine.
She noted the intensified efforts to bring the parties to negotiations, which offer a glimmer of hope for progress towards a ceasefire and an eventual peaceful settlement. But at the same time, the world continues to witness relentless attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns.
As of 24 April, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had verified 151 civilians killed and 697 injured in April. With verification ongoing, this figure is expected to surpass the March figures, which were already 50 percent higher than in February, DiCarlo told the Council.
Since February 2022, OHCHR has verified 13,015 civilians, including 699 children, killed, and 31,628 more civilians, including 2,016 children, injured, in Ukraine. She also noted recent media reports quoting local Russian authorities that indicate civilian casualties in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions of the Russian Federation.
The UN top political affairs official echoed the Secretary-General’s repeated calls for de-escalation and a durable ceasefire in Ukraine, and is encouraged by the diplomatic efforts underway.
DiCarlo reiterated, “The UN remains engaged, particularly on the safety of navigation in the Black Sea to support global food security and maintain vital supply chains strained by the war.”
She continued, “The continued exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, including the largest to date on 20 April involving 500 prisoners, shows that with political will, diplomacy can yield tangible results even in the most difficult circumstances.”
As the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War approaches, the UN official reminded the Council – with even greater urgency – of the centrality of the Charter of the United Nations and international law in safeguarding peace and security.
She said, “The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine stands as an egregious challenge to these fundamental principles, jeopardizing stability in Europe and threatening the broader international order.”
“The war in Ukraine is a war of choice,” DiCarlo stressed, adding that “what is needed now is a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a critical first step towards ending the violence and creating the conditions for a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace.”
For her part, senior OCHA official Joyce Msuya said that as the war continues, millions of lives are impacted daily, essential services are disrupted and humanitarian needs deepened.
She highlighted, “Attacks on healthcare services and health facilities are crippling access to maternal care,” highlighting that pregnant women are now giving birth amid blackouts, medicine shortages and under attack, with a 12 per cent rise in birth complications reported by health workers.
“For many expectant mothers, basic, life-saving care is simply no longer available,” Msuya said.
The Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator emphasized once again, “Under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian objects must be protected.”
“This means that indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited. It also means that parties must take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm, whether they are launching attacks or defending against them,” Msuya stressed.
The Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator also noted that underfunding is forcing critical programmes to scale down, even as the operational environment becomes more complex and dangerous.
“Additional resources are needed now to save lives and sustain assistance,” she concluded.
For his part, US Acting Alternate Representative John Kelley said, “Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve adorable peace,” adding that “the burden for ending the war rests with Russia and with Ukraine.”
He said, “It is up to the leaders of both these countries to decide whether peace is possible. If both sides are ready to end the war, the United States will fully support their path to a lasting peace.”
The US Representative highlighted, “The benefits for Ukraine and Russia accepting the US proposal are immense. Their economies can begin to grow, their cities to rebuild, and their peoples to heal.”
Conversely, Kelley said, “the risks that accompany more war are immeasurable. The harm would disproportionately fall on ordinary Ukrainians and Russian families, who overwhelmingly desire peace.”
The US Representative urged both Ukraine and Russia to “accept peace, “we ask our fellow council members and all UN member states to support the path to peace,” he said.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia criticized that today's meeting was “requested by a number of the most stubborn European sponsors of the Kyiv regime.”
“This is a reflection of their fear of being sidelined in the context of the new US administration as it seeks to arrive at a long-term solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Hence the desire to thwart this process and to restore for Ukraine Zelensky's image of a victim, which has been tarnished in recent months, in the light of the new facts that have surfaced,” the Russian Ambassador added.
Ambassador Nebenzia also said that the Russian and US dialog is ongoing, “there will be discussions of a number of nuances for the future contours of the peace plan from the very start of the conflict,” he said.
“We announced that we preferred diplomatic methods for the attainment of the goals of our special military operation. And this is why Russia remains focused on achieving a sustained, long-term solution that would eradicate the root causes of the conflict and to prevent that from occurring,” the Russian Ambassador emphasized.
For her part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Betsa Mariana reiterated, “Russia cannot be allowed to cherry pick the political convenient dates to announce a short lived ceasefire simply for PR purposes, or gain additional tactical advantages.”
She said, “Ukraine is ready to support a just, comprehensive and lasting peace. And this is what we are constantly proposing for at least 30 days. And we reconfirm this proposal.”
Foreign Minister Mariana stressed her country’s position on peace negotiations is “clear and consistent.”
She said, “Ukraine wants peace like no one else. However, we cannot accept peace at any cost. We cannot accept peace at any price. Any future arrangement has to respect Ukraine's redlines.”
