Ukraine, 2001

Allow me at the outset to

congratulate the President of the General Assembly at

its fifty-sixth session, Mr. Han Seung-soo, on his

election to that important and responsible post. On

behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, I would like to

assure him of our full support and to wish him every

success in his work. I take this opportunity also to

express our appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Harri

Holkeri, whose political wisdom and diplomatic skill

enabled the Assembly to achieve important results at

its fifty-fifth session.

A year ago, at the Millennium Summit, we, the

representatives of the nations of the world, were seen

as heralds of a new age. At that memorable gathering,

the United Nations heard words that gave humanity

hope for a new and just model of international relations

in the new century: freedom, equality, solidarity,

tolerance and mutual responsibility. Those fundamental

values enshrined in the Millennium Declaration

outlined the path that the peoples of the world will

follow in the new era.

However, while striving to breathe the fresh air of

the future, we instead swallowed a mouthful of ashes

and dust. On 11 September the modern world was

brutally wounded. The death of innocent people

shocked all those who cherish the universal values of

life and freedom.

The terrorist acts that took place in the United

States demonstrated that the philosophy of hatred,

which has no religious, ethnic or linguistic affiliation,

has become one of the key challenges of the

contemporary world. This threat requires an urgent and

clear international reaction.

Ukraine shares the pain of the American people

and fully supports the resolve of the United States

effectively to stand against the perpetrators, patrons

and instigators of those terrorist acts.

We joined the global anti-terrorist coalition

without any hesitation because we recognize the need

to unite the efforts of the international community to

counter new threats.

The military campaign in Afghanistan, which

targets the core of international terrorism, is the first

stage, and a necessary element, of these efforts. It is

also evident, however, that the Afghan people, who

live in a state of permanent humanitarian crisis, have

become hostages to terrorism. As a result, this crisis

cannot be brought to an end without consistent political

and diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a solution.

Ukraine welcomes the activities of the Secretary-

General and his Special Representative, Lakhdar

Brahimi, and supports their constructive contribution to

the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan.

We are convinced that efforts to further

strengthen and improve international legal mechanisms

for combating terrorism should also be given a

powerful political impetus. In this context, the speedy

conclusion of work on the draft comprehensive

convention on terrorism takes on special importance.

I am also pleased to mention that the proposal of

my country to convene a ministerial meeting of the

Security Council to discuss further steps in the global

response to international terrorism was unanimously

supported by the members of the Council. There is no

doubt that, in the course of such a meeting, vital steps

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will be taken to identify key means and methods of

combating terrorism.

We also maintain that there is a need for proper

institutional arrangements to coordinate and

complement the individual efforts of Member States in

combating international terrorism and to ensure that the

legal instruments we have elaborated are implemented

in the most efficient manner possible. Any entity of

this sort should not become just another bureaucratic

body, but, rather, should be an effective mechanism for

contributing to the consolidation of international

efforts in this area.

To honour the memory of the thousands who have

perished in terrorist attacks and to further unite our

efforts in fighting the scourge of terrorism, I would like

to propose, on behalf of the Government of Ukraine, to

declare 11 September a United Nations day to combat

international terrorism. I hope that this proposal will be

supported by the General Assembly, which would then

establish this day as a symbol of our remembrance,

unity and resolve.

Ukraine welcomes the decision taken this year by

the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace

Prize to the United Nations and to its Secretary-

General, Kofi Annan. He is exactly the kind of leader

the United Nations needs today as it faces new global

challenges.

Are we ready to stand up to these new

challenges? Have we fully realized that the

deterioration of the situation in the world is due to the

existing, deep-rooted international inequality? And,

finally, how will the fifty-sixth session of the General

Assembly be remembered — as a session that put an

end to the age of illusions, or as a forum that

consolidated the United Nations family?

The United Nations is entering a new period of its

history. Ukraine is deeply convinced that, from a

strategic perspective, the strengthening of the status of

the United Nations as the core of the modern system of

international relations should become the primary task

of this Organization.

The terrorist acts in the United States have united

and consolidated the international community. Why has

it taken the tragic loss of thousands of innocent lives

for it to realize that there is a vital need for unity of

action on its part?

We believe that the essence of United Nations

leadership lies in ensuring an effective response to the

new challenges to security at both the global and

regional levels. This role, however, cannot be played

effectively if we do not improve the existing model of

decision-making and implementation at the

international level.

That is why my country actively supports the

reform of the Security Council. We see this reform not

as a weakening of the foundations of the Council's

work, but, on the contrary, as a move that will

strengthen them, by ensuring that they better reflect the

realities of the modern world.

This year, Ukraine is completing its term as a

member of the Security Council. I believe that the

experience we have gained will contribute to advancing

the process of change. We will consistently advocate

the need to improve the Security Council's methods of

work and to enlarge its membership. As a Central

European nation, Ukraine will actively lobby for an

additional seat on the Council for this region.

In our view, special attention should also be paid

to the philosophy of United Nations peacekeeping

activities and to the problem of sanctions. For many

years, Ukraine — which today is among the 10 largest

troop contributors to United Nations peacekeeping

missions — has consistently supported the

development of effective United Nations preventive

mechanisms.

At the Millennium and Security Council summits

last year, the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma,

emphasized the need for the elaboration of a United

Nations strategy for comprehensive conflict prevention

based on the wide use of preventive diplomacy.

I am pleased to note that the recommendations on

conflict prevention put forward by Secretary-General

Kofi Annan in his June report echo the proposal made

by the President of Ukraine. We believe that the United

Nations possesses the necessary experience and

resources for the enhancement of its role in this field,

in particular through the establishment of regional

centres to monitor potential areas of conflict, as well as

through the more active use of preventive deployment

operations.

Concerning the issue of sanctions, we are in

favour of the elaboration of a well-balanced

methodology for their imposition, implementation and

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lifting. This critical lever of influence should not be

turned into a political boomerang.

We are also convinced of the overriding need to

further consolidate international efforts towards arms

control, disarmament and the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction. On the basis of a realistic

assessment of the potential of the Conference on

Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), we hope that it will

result in an increase in the number of parties to this

Treaty, which was ratified by Ukraine last year.

I would also like to mention that next month

Ukraine will complete the implementation of the third,

and last, phase of strategic weapons destruction under

the START Treaty. On 30 October, Ukraine destroyed

its last intercontinental ballistic missile silo. In that

way we turned one of the important pages in the

history of nuclear disarmament. We are ready to

continue to make our contribution to secure the

effectiveness of the system of strategic stability in the

world.

Ukraine supports further development by the

United Nations of a universal approach to the issues of

ensuring sustainable development and eradicating

poverty in the world. We hope that the outcome of the

International Conference on Financing for

Development will be a practical step in mobilizing

national and international resources to solve these

problems.

We also intend to take practical steps to resolve a

set of environmental protection issues. As a country

that still suffers the pain of the Chernobyl tragedy,

Ukraine counts on the further active involvement of the

United Nations Development Programme and other

operational bodies of the Organization in the process of

eliminating the long-term consequences of this disaster.

Ukraine considers that cultural and spiritual

disasters are no less destructive than natural ones. The

cultural mosaic of the world is the most precious and

delicate treasure granted to humanity. Ukraine has the

honour to be one of the sponsors of the General

Assembly draft resolution on the proclamation of the

year 2002 as the United Nations year for the protection

of the world’s cultural heritage, and calls on the

international community to support this initiative.

Vigorous work to protect humanity’s historical and

cultural heritage is not only a vital necessity, it is also

our moral responsibility to past and future generations.

The year 2001 is an anniversary year for our

country. On 24 August Ukraine celebrated the first

decade of its independence. These have been 10 years

of complex processes. The main result has been

Ukraine’s consolidation as a peaceful and independent

European State. We have achieved sustainable

economic growth as a result of consistent reforms, and

my country is an active participant in European

regional processes.

Ukraine is contributing to the settlement of the

so-called frozen conflicts, specifically in Abkhazia,

Georgia, and Transdniestria, Moldova. As a member of

Group of Friends of the Secretary-General for Georgia,

Ukraine is concerned over the slow pace of the

Georgia-Abkhaz peace process.

Ukraine takes an active stand concerning the

settlement of the situation in the Republic of

Macedonia. The resolution of the centuries-old Balkan

problem is an ambitious and urgent task for Europe in

the new century.

We also note with concern the escalation of

tensions in the Middle East during the past year. The

entire history of the conflict in the Middle East proves

that its vicious circle can be broken only through

renouncing violence and reviving mutual trust and

tolerance between the sides to the conflict.

The United Nations is beginning a new and

complicated period of its activities. It is up to us to

determine how the Untied Nations comes out of its

encounter with the new challenges, united or divided. I

believe that the wisdom of this forum, which has been

nurtured through decades of hard and responsible work,

should serve to guarantee an optimistic scenario.