Ukraine, 1993

In joining my colleagues

in congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the high and

responsible office of President of the General Assembly, I

should like to point out that it is a great honour for a

politician and diplomat to guide the work of this universal

forum representing practically all the States of the world. I

hope that your activities in this important position will

promote substantive discussions at this session and the

adoption of constructive decisions, and that the work of the

forty-eighth session will become a memorable page in your

biography.

At the same time, I should like to thank Mr. Ganev,

President of the previous session of the General Assembly,

for his contribution to the Assembly’s work.

Soon we shall commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of

the Teheran Conference, whose decisions laid down the

foundations of the United Nations. It was 50 years ago that

the participants in that Conference, while discussing the

issue of creating an international organization, expressed

confidence that the accord among them would ensure lasting

peace, and declared the lofty responsibility of all the United

Nations in safeguarding peace for succeeding generations.

As long ago as 1918, an outstanding Ukrainian

politician and writer, Mikhail Hrushevskiy, stated that

"Properly creating history is more important than depicting

it positively".

We are proud of the fact that Ukraine took an active

part in laying down the foundation of the Organization and

that today, along with other members of the international

community, it is making a worthy contribution to attaining

the noble goals of the United Nations. To our mind, the

major result of nearly 50 years of the Organization’s

existence is the fact that world war has been averted. This

is to the credit of the United Nations, a universal forum of

States, a unique Organization without which it is impossible

to imagine present-day international relations.

Today, when the new dominant feature of international

relations is the transition from bipolarity to a qualitatively

different world order based on comprehensive security and

a balance of interests, the world is witnessing the second

birth of the United Nations. For Ukraine, it is of special

significance that the United Nations renaissance coincides

with the building of our independence, our regained

statehood and the revival of Ukraine as a sovereign

participant in European and world politics.

For Ukraine, which today is trying to find its place in

the world balance of power, its United Nations membership

is one of the most important international guarantees of its

national security and independence. After the disintegration

of the USSR and the disappearance of the Warsaw Treaty

Organization, our country is compelled to exist next to a

zone of decreased stability and of alienation and even

tension, irrespective of who is the initiator and what is the

subject of discord. Ukraine finds itself in the epicentre of

almost all European developments: every crisis emerging on

the continent may affect us in one way or another.

6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

These factors led to the initiative by Mr. Leonid

Kravchuk, the President of Ukraine, concerning the creation

in the Central and East European region of a space of

stability and security which would include all countries in

the Baltic and Black Sea zone and that would become, in the

future, an integral part of the European system of security.

At the same time, this Central and East European space of

stability and security would be a reliable link for developing

a broad-based transatlantic system of security taking in the

area from Vancouver to Vladivostok, that is, the whole

region covered by the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Implementation of this idea

would be a worthy contribution to preventive diplomacy.

The basic prerequisite for the creation of such a space

might be the implementation of the principle of security for

oneself through security for all, the main goal of which

would be the development of a system of international

relations in the region that would rule out threats to peace

and stability such as those emanating from the present

conflicts on the territories of the former Yugoslavia and

USSR.

Ukraine is capable of playing a constructive role in the

formation of such a system. As a State which is situated in

the centre of the European continent and possesses vast

human resources and scientific potential and a strong

industrial and agricultural complex, Ukraine is ready to

contribute more to the formation of a new, prosperous

Europe. In accordance with the principles of a new Europe,

we aspire to build a democratic State of law that is

economically strong, politically active, peaceful and, in the

future, non-nuclear along with others, in which individual

rights are respected and guaranteed regardless of nationality

or other distinctions.

In this context, I should like to dwell on the problem of

nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine. As is well

known, we inherited from the former USSR a huge nuclear

arsenal, the third largest in the world in terms of its combat

potential. The declaration on the State sovereignty of

Ukraine proclaimed the intention of our State to become

non-nuclear in the future.

And this is not a mere declaration. Ukraine is doing as

much as it can towards its implementation. The dismantling

of the strategic missile complexes has started. An agreement

has been signed with Russia on the utilization of the

strategic missiles’ nuclear warheads. We do not exclude the

possibility of conducting negotiations on this subject with a

third party.

However, the full-scale implementation of the nuclear

disarmament programme is linked to the need to solve a

number of problems. Where do we get the money to

dismantle and eliminate the strategic nuclear weapons

located in Ukraine? According to our estimates,

approximately $2.8 billion are needed for these purposes.

How do we ensure reliable guarantees of national security

for our State?

There arises also the problem of returning to Ukraine -

or obtaining compensation for - nuclear components,

obtained from nuclear warheads, which, after reprocessing,

can be used as fuel for nuclear power stations. This also

applies to the nuclear materials extracted from the warheads

of tactical missiles removed from Ukraine in 1992.

And finally, what should the thousands of servicemen

dismissed from the missile forces do? We have no complete

answers to these and other questions; so far the promises of

help exist only in statements and on paper.

The Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, is

deeply involved in these questions and is looking for

opportunities to adopt balanced decisions, in the shortest

possible time, taking into consideration the interests both of

Ukraine and of the international community as a whole.

At the same time, I should like to stress that while

considering this issue we should also take into account the

external situation. For today, instability and internal

struggles in neighbouring countries sometimes spill over

their frontiers and threaten Ukraine’s national security and

territorial integrity. This is most especially so in the case of

the well-known decision by the, now former, Supreme

Soviet of the Russian Federation concerning the status of

Sevastopol. There have also been attempts to question the

status of Crimea as a whole. In this connection, I should

like to state explicitly that the Republic of Crimea is an

inseparable part of Ukraine. Crimea, as a part of Ukraine,

could play an appropriate role in the region and make a

decisive contribution to consolidating the Black Sea region

as a zone of peace and stability. In this context, I should

like to express profound gratitude to all the countries,

especially to the members of the Security Council, that gave

their unambiguous assessment of the illegal encroachments

upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and

manifested their support for our State. Again, we are

convinced that the complicated issues of inter-State relations

can be solved only through firm and energetic action on the

part of the international community.

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 7

In our opinion, the objective basis for cooperation

between Ukraine and other countries lies in the formation of

a stable and secure system of international relations. In the

present circumstances, the basis of this system is respect for

the principal postulates of international law, according to

which the inviolability of the frontiers and territorial integrity

of sovereign States is recognized as one of the prerequisites

for international peace and security. The former empires

have vanished, and like them imperialistic thinking, such as

unilateral interpretations by certain States of legal succession

issues and their other actions that are incompatible with the

norms and ethics of international relations should also

disappear.

We hope that an understanding of contemporary

realities will facilitate the further normalization and

development of Ukraine’s relations with other countries on

terms of mutual respect, a balanced search for compromises

and the renunciation of extreme rhetoric. Genuine

conditions for such developments are already in existence,

and it is a worthwhile task to use them to foster mutually

beneficial economic relations and to ensure wide-ranging

contacts between peoples.

Ukraine, as one of the founders of the Commonwealth

of Independent States, is actively developing cooperation

with the CIS countries. We regard the Commonwealth as an

international mechanism for multilateral consultations and

talks that is contributing to the process of forming

qualitatively new full-scale, bilateral relations between

participating States and is promoting solutions to the

problems that they face after the disintegration of the USSR.

Our relations with the Baltic States are developing in a

positive way.

Ukraine unswervingly supports the efforts of the world

community to find a formula for settling the conflict in the

former Yugoslavia. We consider that a real solution to this

problem is possible only through taking into account the

interests of all States in the region, and those of ethnic

communities, on the basis of the relevant decisions by the

United Nations Security Council and of the cornerstone

principles of international law.

We take it as given that all countries involved in the

attempt to settle this conflict, and the relevant international

structures, must approach the issue very carefully, especially

when the use of force is implied. It must be borne in mind

that the use of force might lead to extremely undesirable

consequences, frustrate the negotiating process and result in

an escalation in the conflict and its spread to other areas of

the former Yugoslavia.

Our position on the settlement of conflicts on the

territory of the former Soviet Union is similar. In this

connection, we should like to welcome the role played by

the United Nations and the CSCE in Transdnestria and the

joint efforts of the international community in searching for

ways to stop the bloodshed in Nagorny-Karabakh.

Tragic developments have taken place in Georgia.

Signed agreements have been violated, the bloodshed persists

and people continue to perish. As long ago as

21 September, Leonid Kravchuk, the President of Ukraine,

appealed to the President of the Russian Federation, which

is a guarantor of the tripartite truce agreement of

27 July 1993, and to the Secretary-General of the United

Nations to take all possible measures to stop the escalation

of the conflict and to activate the mechanism contained in

the agreement. Regrettably, the attempts to stop the

dangerous developments have been frustrated and the

situation is running out of control, threatening the stability

of the Caucasus region as a whole. The international

community should immediately call on the potential of the

United Nations Charter in order to bring the situation back

onto a course of settlement through political dialogue.

At the same time, I should like to draw attention to a

truth that is as old as the hills but which is regrettably often

forgotten: preventing disease is much cheaper and more

effective than treating them. A similar idea was expressed

yesterday by Mr. Kinkel, my colleague from Germany. An

emphasis on active, preventive diplomacy that would

forestall conflicts should become the dominant feature of

contemporary international relations. The fact that the issue

of Sevastopol was addressed at a meeting of the United

Nations Security Council, the activities of the CSCE

missions in Kosovo, Sanjak and Vojvodina, and the

deployment of United Nations military contingents in The

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are, to our mind,

good examples that illustrate this truth.

In fact, reviving the peacemaking activities of the

United Nations has become one of the more vivid examples

of the transformation in United Nations political thinking,

and is embodied in the conclusion that diplomatic language

should replace the language of the gun in inter-State

communication.

Ukraine is taking an active part in this process. More

than a year has elapsed since a Ukrainian battalion was sent

to the former Yugoslavia to participate in the United Nations

peace-keeping forces. From the point of view of Ukraine,

as a new and independent State, the multilateral peace-

keeping efforts of the United Nations remain the

8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

Organization’s most effective instruments in its performance

of its major function, the ensuring of international peace and

security. Ukraine is ready to continue active participation in

the peace-keeping activities carried out under the auspices of

the United Nations or the CSCE.

The prestige and authority that Ukraine has gained as

a result of its participation in United Nations peace-keeping

operations have not come easily. Lately, human losses

among peace-keepers from the United Nations Blue Helmets

have increased. The rise in the number of peace-keeping

operations and their expansion may result in further losses.

That is why it is our belief that it is urgently necessary to

work out a document to define the status of United Nations

peace-keeping personnel and to make provision for a

mechanism to protect them. This would be a logical

development of the provisions of resolution 47/72, adopted

by the General Assembly at the initiative of Ukraine, with

sponsorship by over 50 States, and of the relevant Security

Council resolution, resolution 868 (1993) of

29 September 1993.

Ukraine is interested in strengthening peace, security

and stability in the nearby Middle East region and welcomes

the decisions reached between Israel and the Palestine

Liberation Organization on mutual recognition and the

agreement on Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza strip and

Jericho signed on 13 September in Washington. The first,

important step has thus been taken on the road to a complete

settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Ukraine welcomes the developments in South Africa,

which make it possible to lift economic sanctions against

that country. We hope that wisdom and a balanced approach

by all the participants in the negotiating process in that

country, and active work on the part of the Transitional

Executive Council, will become a solid basis for the

successful holding of elections and the formation of a

democratic, non-racial and united South Africa.

Our State is paying great attention to the experience of

the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The extraordinarily

fast pace of developments in some of the countries in this

region is evidence of the effectiveness of pragmatic

approaches to solving complex political, economic and social

issues.

The process of a practical development of relations with

the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

countries has been initiated. We see this grouping as

potentially one of the best trade and economic partners for

Ukraine, inasmuch as trade between the ASEAN States - and

the region as a whole - and the countries of Eastern and

Central Europe flows through Ukrainian ports.

We shall facilitate by all possible means the

development, and the maintenance on the proper level, of

relations with the States of Europe, North and South

America, the Middle East and Africa.

I should like to dwell briefly on the present-day

situation in Ukraine. Frankly, we are experiencing difficult

times now. In addition to the establishment of our own

State and the rebirth of our national culture and spirit, we

are undergoing a transformation to a new system with new

civic and economic parameters. Our scholars, specialists and

statesmen have not yet succeeded in proposing a programme

of economic reforms in keeping with Ukraine’s real

potential, its historical traditions and the mind-set of its

people. And now we have to make major adjustments to the

procedure and sequence of the reform process.

Our goal is a market, socially-oriented economic

system, directed at meeting the needs of our people. It

should take into account economic interrelations that were,

objectively, formed in the CIS, opportunities for foreign

investment in our economy, and a step-by-step integration of

the Ukrainian economy into that of the European Community

and the world.

Important steps have been taken in this regard. By

adopting a law on ownership, the Verkhovna Rada has

opened the road to privatization as the principal means for

the transition to market-based economic relations. Important

documents have been approved concerning the

denationalization and privatization of enterprises, land and

housing. Ukraine has declared its intention to become an

associate member of the CIS economic union, and is

engaged in active negotiations within the framework of the

Commission of the European Communities.

However, the situation in the State remains extremely

complicated.

In overcoming the crisis, the international community,

including our compatriots abroad - the representatives of the

Ukrainian diaspora - could play an important role. Our

legislation sets out favourable conditions for foreign

investment in the Ukrainian economy, and a number of

measures have been adopted concerning participation by our

State in the European and world communities and the

development of bilateral trade and economic relations.

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 9

It is important to find areas that could appeal to our

partners and to proceed to develop and implement specific

cooperation programmes and projects. An example of this

kind of cooperation can be seen in the activities that we have

initiated with Commission of the European Communities and

in the framework of the Black Sea economic cooperation.

We are also ready to participate actively in carrying out

the economic programmes being implemented within the

framework of the United Nations.

In this context, we are heartened by the increasing

attention being paid by the United Nations and its bodies and

by the economically developed countries to the processes of

transition to the market economy being undertaken in the

Eastern and Central European States. Favourable conditions

for broadening cooperation between the United Nations and

States with economies in transition, including Ukraine, have

opened up as a result of the formation of integrated missions

by the United Nations and the United Nations Development

Programme in this field. We hope that these missions will

be given permanent status.

We place great hope in assistance by the international

community in mitigating the consequences of the Chernobyl

disaster. I must say that after the appointment of United

Nations Under-Secretary-General Mr. Eliasson as the United

Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation for

Chernobyl, activities in this area have acquired new impetus.

I hope his efforts will find support in the General Assembly

and will contribute to strengthening international cooperation

for this purpose.

In addition to the expenditures needed to mitigate the

after-effects of the Chernobyl disaster, which account for a

considerable part of the national income, the losses resulting

from the imposition of economic sanctions by the Security

Council against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have

become another great negative factor for our economy.

Consequently, by the end of 1993, Ukraine will have

suffered direct losses of more than $4 billion in the State

sector alone.

Today we need real efforts on the part of the

international community to assist Ukraine in overcoming the

negative impact of the sanctions against the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia on Ukraine’s economy as well as on the

economies of a number of other countries. Our delegation

is ready to propose a draft resolution which would deal with

the implementation of the relevant recommendations of the

Security Council and the General Assembly.

Regretfully, the serious economic difficulties associated

with the factors that I have mentioned were not taken into

consideration when the international community last year

adopted the decision, contrary to the provisions of the United

Nations Charter, to increase Ukraine’s contribution to the

United Nations regular budget by 58 per cent. The

assessment imposed on Ukraine is not fully commensurate

with its capacity to pay, and is a great burden on its

economy. As a result of great efforts, this year we have

managed to contribute $6.5 million to the United Nations

regular budget, which otherwise could have been directed at

solving the problems caused by Chernobyl. However, we

cannot meet our financial obligations in full, for the reasons

I have mentioned.

In this context, the Government of Ukraine urges a

reconsideration of the scale of assessments for the United

Nations regular budget and an amendment of the existing

system of financing United Nations peace-keeping

operations. Our delegation is ready to offer grounds for this

position during discussion of the relevant items by the Fifth

Committee.

The world has experienced great changes since the

foundation of the United Nations. This is understandable,

for, as Heraclitus said, "Nothing endures but change". That

is why the issue of reforming the United Nations system is

a quite natural one. Current realities raise new problems for

the world community. Even though the danger of a global

nuclear conflict has been practically eliminated, the "local"

wars and regional conflicts breaking out all over the world

are causing serious concern.

Interethnic armed conflicts and economic instability

create favourable grounds for terrorism, the arms trade and

the production and trafficking of drugs, and directly affect

the security of United Nations Member States. The

Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster, the environmental

disorder in the Aral Sea area, the danger of an ecological

catastrophe as a result of destruction of tropical forests and

the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer are but a very

incomplete list of the ecological problems facing mankind.

The need for change is also becoming especially urgent

and even inevitable as a result of the significant events of

the past few years that have radically redrawn the political

map of the world; more than two dozen new independent

States have emerged, thus considerably increasing the United

Nations family. Let me extend to them my sincere

congratulations.

10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

Ukraine shares the view that the present quantitative

composition of the Security Council, its functioning and its

working methods require appropriate adjustments, taking into

consideration the new regional realities and the appearance

of new participants in the international community.

Implementing this proposal would increase the Council’s

degree of legitimacy as the body that is entrusted by the

United Nations Member States with the principal

responsibility for maintaining international peace and

security. At the same time, it is important to preserve the

Council’s ability to respond effectively to emergencies that

require prompt intervention.

In changing the structure of the United Nations Security

Council, it is very important to take into account the

existence, beyond its present membership, of participants in

the international community that are potentially capable of

playing an important role in the Organization’s activities at

the present time and that have substantial financial

obligations to the United Nations. It is also very important

to preserve in the Security Council the basic principle of

equitable geographic representation.

The working methods of the most representative United

Nations body - the General Assembly - also require

modification. It is in our interest to direct its activities, to

the maximum possible extent, towards further consolidating

the principles of justice, democracy and development. The

delegation of Ukraine supports the decisions of the forty-

seventh session aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the

General Assembly and at rationalizing the work of its Main

Committees.

We are ready for further dialogue on the issues

concerning structural changes in the sessional and subsidiary

bodies of the General Assembly. This means, in particular,

further decreasing the number of resolutions that are

repeated and duplicated from year to year and redistributing

the functions of subsidiary bodies.

In our view, the reform should also involve the

activities of the main economic and social forum of the

United Nations, the Economic and Social Council, and

should also be reflected in the structure and working

methods of the Organization’s Secretariat. Ukraine fully

supports the actions of Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the

Secretary-General, aimed at extending the reforms in the

Secretariat, and who is acting firmly in order to increase

the role and authority of the Organization, in keeping with

the requirements of the time. We are facing the task of

reorienting the United Nations social and economic activities

in order to implement specific projects in the interest of all

States, including those now on the way to the free market.

For the reforms to be successful, it is also important to

ensure, in practice, real zero growth in the Organization’s

budget, and the effective use of its financial assets by

reorientating them towards priority fields of activity.

The United Nations will soon mark its fiftieth

anniversary. This jubilee is a special date in the calendar of

international life, but, moreover, it will be celebrated at the

turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is well

known that all historic dates look towards the future.

Therefore, the best way to celebrate this anniversary is to

concentrate on outstanding issues, analyse the emerging

situation and determine what the prospects are for future

development. That is why, perhaps, it is time for the world

community to get together, as it did after the world wars,

and creatively reappraise the realities of the

post-confrontational period and, where necessary, amend

existing structures of security and cooperation and division

of labour in order to determine the world order for the

twenty-first century. These are the considerations that

impelled President Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine to initiate

the idea of convening, within the framework of the United

Nations fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1995, a global

international peace summit conference.

In advancing the idea of holding such an event under

the auspices of the United Nations, we take it as given that

this is the Organization that can convene global conferences

of Ministers and Heads of States or Governments in order to

weigh up complex issues and suggest comprehensive

solutions. Therefore, all our thoughts today are directed

towards tomorrow, to which we should come having

discarded the heavy burden of the confrontational era and

having drawn upon the best of the Organization’s past

activities, which have enriched us with invaluable

knowledge. From the collective wisdom manifested in the

activities of the United Nations, we can tap the optimism so

necessary for mankind today, and the faith in its positive

strength and in its future.

In conclusion, I should like to cite some words by

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary-General, which he

pronounced during his recent visit to Ukraine:

"Deep involvement in the great currents of history

gives Ukraine a special insight into the world today. It

Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 11

qualifies Ukraine to play a full role in the new United

Nations."

I wish to assure you that Ukraine will spare no effort in

continuing to prove the rightness of his words.