Vassily Nebenzia at the UN Security Council: “The time has come for everyone to make a choice. We made ours back in 2022, and we will not abandon our compatriots, the Russian people, in their time of need. If necessary, we will fight for this as long as it takes”

Vassily Nebenzia
Photo: The Permanent Mission of Russia to the United Nations

Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC briefing on Western arms supplies to Ukraine. Key points:

- The logic behind what is happening with the Ukrainian settlement is very simple. Sensible forces in Ukraine, Russia, the new US administration and the countries of the Global South are taking serious steps to ensure that hostilities in Ukraine stop and never resume. But a simple ceasefire is not enough to achieve this – we reached this point previously in the context of the Minsk agreements, which were systematically violated by the West and Ukraine. In order to achieve a lasting and long-term resolution of the Ukrainian crisis we need to address its root causes. To this end, Russia proposed resuming direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul, which Kiev itself abrogated in April 2022 at the behest of Boris Johnson and other Western leaders. Now we are proposing a second round of talks in Istanbul, which is to take place next Monday, June 2, where we will be able to exchange memoranda on the approaches of both sides to the negotiation process.

- However, there is a whole host of forces who are not interested in such a scenario, and they have various reasons for this. The “expired” Ukrainian president does not want to stop hostilities because he is afraid of losing his grip on power – after all, he will have to hold elections and answer to the voters for what he has turned Ukraine into over the past 6 years, he will also have to account for the hundreds of billions of dollars of budget funds and Western (primarily American) aid that he has embezzled.

- European warmongers are not interested in stopping hostilities either. They have been implementing their “anti-Russia” project in Ukraine since at least 2014, and they are not ready to give up on it to and allow the cessation of hostilities until Russia is defeated or at least bled-dry. Having lost millions of its citizens, it is Ukraine that is on the verge of total defeat today; therefore, the European sponsors of “private military company Ukraine” order Zelensky and his clique to continue fighting until the last Ukrainian, which compels the Kiev regime to capture the last Ukrainian men in the streets and throw them into the senseless meat grinder.

- Needless to say, London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin have been somewhat discouraged by the fact that the “main stakeholder” in the Ukraine project – the United States – decided to withdraw from this pointless and disastrous game after a new realistically-minded administration came to power in Washington. However, they are not losing hope in bringing the Americans back to their ranks. Thus, they have no scruples about resorting to any provocations and any lies about Russia and its actions only to make the American President change his mind. In fact, it is grappling his attention that all the statements by the Western politicians involved in the Ukrainian conflict are aimed at; they do expect that blatant speculations and double-talk will prevent him from fixing relations with Russia.

- We know Mr. Trump regularly receives reports of Russian strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial complex, but these strikes are being presented, contrary to the facts, as targeted attacks on civilian objects. At the same time, what is being purposefully hushed up is the fact that these strikes are targeting exclusively military objects and enterprises related to Ukraine's military-industrial complex, and that we are launching these strikes in response to the unprecedented escalation of attacks by the Kiev regime on peaceful Russian cities…

- Despite their own resources running low, EU member states are persistently seeking ways to step up military support for the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, which only serves to further exacerbate tensions on the European continent. On May 26, the EU Council endorsed the establishment of a new financial instrument to allocate €150 billion for purchasing weapons and ammunition. We already know that this new instrument, called “Security Action for Europe” (SAFE), will also finance certain “urgent and large-scale” investment in the Ukrainian defense industry.

- European countries are shamelessly continuing their proxy war against Russia, hoping that they will get off scot-free. They are providing Kiev with satellite intelligence, they are training Ukrainian soldiers at NATO military bases and sending their military advisers to Ukraine. Undoubtedly, it is the United Kingdom that is largely behind this. The involvement of British intelligence in the hostilities is so large-scale that it is becoming increasingly difficult to brush such blatant facts under the rug.

- At the end of March, British journalists published an investigative report on this issue. In particular, this report reveals that the British collaborated with Ukrainian servicemen so as to plot the operation to blow up the Crimean Bridge, and that since at least the middle of last year, British and American officers have been “overseeing every aspect of this operation – from determining the coordinates of the targets to calculating missile flight paths.” Colleagues, do you really think that we fail to notice all this and that we have no detailed information about the involvement of each and all of your countries in military actions against Russia? Do you really believe that you will bear no consequences for that?

- All in all, we are ready to consider the possibility of establishing a ceasefire, which would subsequently pave the way for definitively addressing the root causes of the conflict. But for this to happen, we need to see reciprocal steps taken by the other side. We have repeatedly voiced our concerns. During the truce, it is necessary (at the very least) for Western countries to stop supplying weapons to the Kiev regime, and for Ukraine to stop its mobilization. However, all your statements indicate that you cannot agree to such a scenario, whereas we cannot agree to a situation that would allow the Kiev regime to catch its breath, lick its wounds, and stop the collapse of the eastern front.

- If we are talking seriously about peace, we need to discuss its parameters and conditions, and only then decide on a ceasefire. This is precisely what the direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul are geared towards. These talks will serve as the litmus test for the parties' real, rather than declared, aspirations for peace. All the more so given that Russia has already unilaterally respected the 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure, as well as the Easter truce and the Victory Day truce. The Kiev regime simply ignored all of these opportunities to demonstrate its readiness to pursue peace. So what do you expect from us now?

- We have already said on numerous occasions and would like to reiterate now that the objectives of our special military operation can be achieved through either peaceful or military means. Our Armed Forces stand ready to continue and step up their combat acrivities for as long as it may take.

- It is fundamentally important for us that the root causes of the conflict be addressed once and for all. 2014 witnessed an unconstitutional coup d'état in Ukraine, which was supported and sponsored by the US and the EU. That coup brought to power a new regime that set out to destroy all things Russian. For all these years, it has trampled on the rights of the people in the east and the south of Ukraine, and in other regions as well – all that happened right before your eyes. We cannot and will not stand idly by and watch as millions of Russian-speaking people remain under the regime pursuing the policies that flagrantly violate their fundamental rights and freedoms.

- If the neo-Nazi authorities in Kiev believe that they can achieve a cessation of hostilities while maintaining institutionalized oppression and discrimination vis-a-vis a significant portion of the population in the rest of Ukraine, they are deeply mistaken. Leaving everything as it is means deliberately ignoring the norms of international law and the provisions of the UN Charter. Let me remind you that article 1 of the UN Charter clearly stipulates the need to respect human rights “without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” What we see in Ukraine today is the exact opposite: in fact, the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine is being persecuted, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is facing restrictions on its activities, and rights of other national minorities are being severely violated.

- The time has come for everyone to make a choice. We made ours back in 2022, and we will not abandon our compatriots, the Russian people, in their time of need. If necessary, we will fight for this as long as it takes. We will no longer tolerate any threats on our borders nor any anti-Russian neo-Nazi entities being our neighbors. Now it is up to those who were behind the anti-Russian project in Ukraine. Do you understand what mistakes you made? Do you realize the futility of you attempts to vanquish and isolate Russia? If you are driven solely by Russophobia, then we probably have nothing to talk about. But if you are still willing to discuss potential options for us to coexist and perhaps even to cooperate, then let’s talk. We have never rejected dialogue, nor do we reject it now. The choice is yours.

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