Lithuania, 2014

Today, numerous

outbreaks of armed conflict and instability in the world

make us look back at the main cause and purpose of the

United Nations — to keep peace throughout the world.

As States Members of the United Nations, we are all

committed to that core principle. With the danger of

terrorism and war spreading throughout the world, now

is the right time to stop to reconsider our actions and to

do everything possible to bring an end to fighting, be

it in our own homelands, neighbouring countries or in

our regions.

The nature of global security has changed

dramatically. We are seeing non-State actors, religious

fundamentalists and rebellious criminal gangs

terrorizing the globe and threatening the safety of

peaceful people. Sadly, some States are standing behind

the terrorists and have become hubs and shelters for

growing violence. But nowadays, the means of terror

and war go far beyond the traditional concept of a lethal

fight. Whatever the means of terror used, its goal is

the same — to frighten people, countries and, in some

cases, the entire world.

Peaceful and sustainable coexistence among

countries and within societies is not a self-evident

fact. It requires collective efforts and determination

and national commitment to a sustainable future that

belongs to all of us. Our common task as a group of

nations is to maintain undivided security — we must

use all our efforts to stop the Islamic State of Iraq and

the Levant and Al-Qaida in order to maintain peace and

security in Middle East, but the same efforts need also

to be deployed to manage the geopolitical challenges in

Eastern Europe.

It is our duty to support the peace, sovereignty and

territorial integrity of Ukraine. The threat arising in

Ukraine must be urgently tackled. The United Nations,

together with NATO, the European Union and other

regional organizations and their member States, should

fulfil their duty and do everything possible to stop

armed conflicts, prevent the redrawing of the borders

of sovereign States and stop the creation of one frozen

conflict after another.

We have to act together as a group of neighbours,

a group of States concerned about the future of the

international community, the future of the world in

which we live. It is very important to stop a conflict

at its inception and to suppress the breeding grounds

of terrorism, wherever they may be found. But most

important, we should never abandon the values that

hold us together, namely, respect for human rights and

the fundamental principles of State sovereignty and,

naturally, territorial unity.

When it comes to the protection of those

fundamental common principles, the international

community should be united and react responsively to

any breach thereof. The fact that we continue to protect

core values was well illustrated by the voting results

on resolution 68/262, on the armed conflict in Ukraine.

One hundred States supported Ukraine and condemned

the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

An overwhelming majority of the Assembly will never

recognize such illegal acts of aggression.

If we fail and if violence, aggression and terror win,

we are at risk of waking up on the threshold of a situation

where everyone fights everyone else and chaos prevails.

Everything we have worked for, everything we have

created — the world we live in — will be destroyed.

Silent consent to such brutal forms of aggression should

not be the international community’s answer.

To avoid an even grimmer future, I invite the

Assembly to keep deception, lies, manipulation and

ignorance from entering our territories and violating

our values. We have to go back to the core principle of

the United Nations, that is, to keep peace throughout the

world. Our undivided attention to maintain undivided

security should be our main focus.