Russia, 2011

This year the session of the General

Assembly is opening at a time when international

relations are in a state of turbulence. The Middle East

and North Africa have gone through a period of large-

scale changes, and the situation is volatile in certain

other parts of the world. We have not yet been able to

put the global economy back on the track of

progressive sustainable development. The increasing

number of alarming factors has been accompanied by

an exacerbation of social, inter-ethnic and intercultural

conflicts as well as outbreaks of extremism.

Just as a ship caught in adverse weather

conditions needs a united crew and a compass to find

the right course, the international community today

needs in particular to deploy joint efforts to respond to

common challenges and set clear guidelines to

strengthen global governance mechanisms. We are

convinced that such guidelines should include, first and

foremost, the rule of international law; clear, strict and

responsible reliance on the fundamental principles of

the Charter of the United Nations; and the will to

implement a positive unification agenda.

The United Nations remains a pillar of

international relations and equitable multilateral

cooperation in the interests of all States. It has a unique

legitimacy and the necessary authority to respond

adequately to the variety of contemporary risks and

threats. It is the United Nations that should continue to

provide political, legal and moral leadership in dealing

with global challenges, to establish equitable principles

and standards of interaction, to monitor their

implementation and to render necessary assistance and

support for the States that need it.

Ten years ago on September 11, a horrible

terrorist attack was committed in this city. We are

convinced that it is necessary to strengthen multilateral

cooperation in countering international terrorism on

both the global and regional levels. However, the

additional mechanisms to be created in this area should

be incorporated in our common work within the United

Nations, with due account taken of its central

coordinating role in combating terrorism.

Wide international cooperation is needed to keep

the situation in the global economic and financial

system under control. One can hardly deny the

importance of the role that the Group of Twenty (G-20)

plays in the post-crisis recovery of the world economy.

Today, it is important to finalize the process of

reforming the global financial and economic

architecture and to implement everything we have

agreed on, rather than to stop halfway. The efficiency

of these efforts will only grow if the G-20 strengthens

its dialogue with the United Nations and its specialized

agencies.

A significant contribution to the reform of the

global economy and finance is being made by

BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa — a global-scale association of five major,

rapidly growing economies that reflects the realities of

the evolving multipolar world. BRICS does not aim at

confrontation with anyone. Its goal is to enhance

productive multilateral collaboration to address the

urgent problems of the contemporary world.

Sustainable development requires a reliable

supply of energy resources for the global economy.

Russia has proposed drafting a convention on

international energy security that would cover all

aspects of global energy cooperation, taking into

account the balance of interests of all actors in the

international market. We call for the start of the

practical preparation of this document.

As in economics, the logic of joint consolidated

actions should prevail in matters of security and the

elimination of surplus weapons worldwide. Russia and

the United States made another important step towards

nuclear disarmament when they signed the Treaty on

Strategic Offensive Arms and began its

implementation. Its practical realization will allow us

to make sure that the Treaty is effective and viable and

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to see how its fundamental principles are implemented.

We call on all States with nuclear weapons capability

to join the Russian-American efforts. We believe that

further progress in nuclear arms reductions is possible

only on a multilateral basis.

Moreover, progress in this area is inseparable

from coordinated efforts to move forward on all

aspects of strengthening international security and

strategic stability. This includes development of

universally acceptable approaches to missile defence

issues, an accounting on the impact of strategic

conventional arms, prevention of the weaponization of

space and elimination of qualitative and quantitative

imbalances in conventional arms.

The deployment of strategic missile defence

elements in various parts of the world alters the overall

configuration of international security. It is not enough

to make statements that the increase in global missile

defence capabilities would not undermine the basics of

strategic stability. The issue is far too serious. We need

solid legal guarantees that missile defence potential

will actually be adequate to the declared objectives and

will not disrupt global and regional balances. This

holds equally true for both Europe and the Asia-Pacific

region, where the missile defence factor is beginning to

affect the strategic environment.

It is of primary importance for us to prevent the

undermining of the non-proliferation regime. We call

for universalization of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons, strengthening of the International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system and

the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-

Test-Ban Treaty. Russia has been one of the main

initiators of the proposal to convene in 2012 a

conference on establishing a zone free of weapons of

mass destruction and their means of delivery in the

Middle East and is now working intensively, together

with its partners, on the preparations for this important

forum.

The early resolution of the nuclear problems of

Iran and the Korean Peninsula would contribute to the

strengthening of the non-proliferation regime. We see

no alternative to their political and diplomatic

settlement and to taking concrete steps to create the

conditions for the resumption of negotiations. We call

on all partners to address these tasks with utmost

responsibility.

The situation around Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi-1

nuclear power plant has highlighted the need to

improve the international legal framework in order to

ensure the safety of nuclear power facilities. The

Russian Federation has made proposals to enhance the

mechanisms of the Convention on Nuclear Safety and

the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear

Accident and to strengthen the relevant IAEA norms.

We urge support for these initiatives.

In the age of new telecommunications

technologies, international information security has

become a challenge that requires coordinated efforts by

the international community. Reliable protection of the

field of information from malicious and criminal

attacks is the goal of the initiative that Russia and its

partners are promoting at the United Nations. During

this session, we will put forward proposals on

developing specific rules of conduct in this area.

In a polycentric world, an effective international

architecture can be created only if it rests on regional

building blocks. The enhancing of global governance at

the regional level and the increasing role of regional

organizations are an integral part of modern

international relations. Integration associations and

organizations in the Commonwealth of Independent

States area contribute to these processes. The Eurasian

Economic Community, with its $10 billion anti-crisis

fund, operates in the financial and economic sphere. A

customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan and

Belarus has been created, and single economic space is

taking shape with a view to establishing a Eurasian

union.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization

(CSTO) is a key tool for ensuring stability within the

area of its responsibility. The signing of the joint

declaration on cooperation between the United Nations

Secretariat and the CSTO secretariat in March 2011

was a major step in the collaboration between these

two organizations, primarily in the field of

peacekeeping. We are ready to start working on its

practical modalities. Russia consistently calls for

interaction between regional organizations, under the

auspices of the United Nations, to strengthen global

stability on the basis of the solid legal framework of

the Charter.

Priority should be given to equal and indivisible

security, predictability, transparency and mutual

respect, taking into account one other’s interests. This

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is exactly the aim of Russian President Medvedev’s

initiative to sign a treaty on European security. Its

practical implementation would allow us to finally put

a period to the post-cold war era, to establish a

universal and clear framework for a reliable solution to

such issues as missile defence and arms control, and to

create a common space of security and development

without dividing lines.

Achieving equal and indivisible security is an

urgent issue for the Asia-Pacific region, with the

Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia as integral parts.

The joint initiative launched by the leaders of China

and Russia in September 2010 is aimed at creating a

comprehensive architecture for security and

cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region on a bloc-free

legal basis. We could move closer to this goal by

promoting a network of multilateral diplomacy, an idea

that has been supported by the members of the

Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Progress in the settlement of regional conflicts

would contribute to a more stable international

environment. Today, special attention is given to the

developments in the Arab world.

Russia condemns the use of violence against

civilians and supports the aspirations of Arab peoples

for the revival of their States and their democratic

development and social and economic prosperity. At

the same time, actions by the outside forces must be

based on full respect for international law and be

instrumental to the search for a political settlement

between the authorities and the opposition. The

attempts to go beyond the Security Council mandate

are unacceptable, since they undermine its authority

and compound the suffering of innocent civilians.

In this context, it seems quite pertinent that States

and regional organizations commit themselves to

strictly complying with the existing norms of

international law, including humanitarian law, in order

to protect civilians during armed conflict. This step,

which further enhances the existing legal basis of

international relations, would contribute to the

strengthening of regional and global security in its

modern, multidimensional interpretation.

The leading role in elaborating modalities for

post-conflict resolution in Libya must be played by the

United Nations and in particular the Security Council.

That is precisely the goal of Security Council

resolution 2009 (2011) of 16 September 2011, which

established the United Nations Support Mission in

Libya. We believe that it is time to take additional

steps, including the lifting of the no-fly zone.

As for Syria, it is inadmissible to boycott

proposals for a national dialogue, stir up confrontation

and provoke violence, while neglecting the reforms —

late in coming, but still achievable — proposed by

President Al-Assad. It is important to encourage the

authorities and the opposition to start negotiations and

agree on the future of their country. We hope that the

League of Arab States will make the necessary efforts.

The situation in the Middle East could be

significantly improved by progress in the negotiation

process, on the basis of the main parameters defined

and recorded in Security Council resolutions, the

Madrid terms of reference and the Arab Peace

Initiative, and reiterated in the Quartet ministerial

statement of 23 September. The only viable basis for a

settlement is the coexistence of Palestinian and Israeli

States in peace and security. We support the

Palestinians’ application to the Security Council and

welcome the readiness reiterated by the President of

the Palestinian National Authority, Mr. Abbas, to hold

talks with Israel on the basis of the existing

international legal framework.

We encourage the Cypriot communities to

continue negotiations under United Nations auspices to

achieve a comprehensive, just and viable settlement on

the basis of the relevant Security Council resolutions.

We call upon all parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh

settlement process to take advantage of the additional

opportunities arising from the efforts made in the

context of Russia’s mediation. We will promote

confidence-building and ceasefire enforcement

measures within the framework of the Troika of the

co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, together with

American and French partners.

We hope that the decision taken in Moscow on

22 September on resuming official talks on a

Transdniestrian settlement will encourage the parties to

seek ways to arrive at mutually acceptable agreements.

We are strongly committed to doing our utmost to

prevent a repetition of a scenario involving the use of

force in the Caucasus, as happened in August 2008 as a

result of a reckless venture by the ruling regime in

Tbilisi. Russia is ready to act as a guarantor of

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arrangements on the non-use of force between

Abkhazia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, taking into

account the earlier relevant statements made by the

leaders of these three parties. We would welcome it if

the United States and the European Union made similar

commitments. As guarantors, we would be ready to

take steps to prevent the resumption of violence in the

region and, in the case of the wrongful use of force by

either side, to work towards an early resolution of the

situation on the basis of the existing norms of

international law.

Russia is providing significant support for the

efforts to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan. At the

same time, we call on the International Security

Assistance Force to more effectively fight the growing

Afghan drug threat. Central Asia and Russia are

already facing a “heroin aggression”, while the profits

from drug trafficking are being used as the main source

of financing the clandestine extremist underground in

the region. The fight against this evil should be

uncompromising, and it should target the entire drug

business chain.

The problems on the African continent should be

a focus of continuous attention on the part of the

United Nations. Such attention should include

development assistance as well as efforts to overcome

the current humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa

and resolve the numerous ongoing conflicts, while

maintaining the leading role of the African Union.

The eradication of piracy remains a priority. It is

necessary to accelerate the establishment of an

international anti-piracy court mechanism in the

region, in accordance with the Security Council

resolution adopted on the initiative of Russia.

Experience has shown that pressure and unilateral

sanctions cannot be a cure-all in addressing various

conflict situations; they only complicate efforts to

resolve them. We urge that an end be put to any actions

that circumvent the Security Council. We also call for

the lifting of the blockade of Cuba. Cooperation rather

than isolation should be the method for settling

conflicts in the twenty-first century.

The ongoing transformation in contemporary

international relations makes it a priority task on the

global agenda to expand intercultural, interreligious

and inter-civilization dialogue in order to devise

approaches to the problems of the modern world that

are based on shared values. The degradation of

fundamental moral values leads to the degradation of

society. The recent tragic events in Norway, riots in

Great Britain, protests by young people in other

countries, and calls to suppress Christian minorities in

the Middle East and North Africa — all of those events

are the result of a deterioration in moral and ethical

values. There can be no freedom without responsibility

and no democracy without self-restraint. There is a

clear and urgent need to counter the threats posed by

nationalism, ethnic and religious intolerance. We

therefore reiterate the importance of the recent High-

level Meeting of the General Assembly to

commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of

the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

related intolerance.

Attempts to falsify or revise history are

inadmissible, all the more so given that we are marking

the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Nuremberg Tribunal

verdict. Political correctness and talk of freedom of

speech cannot serve as a cover when, in certain

European countries, people who brought disgrace upon

themselves by cooperating with the Nazis are being

talked and written about in an increasingly elevated

tone. Russia will never forget the countless military

crimes committed by Hitler and his associates in our

land and throughout Europe during the years of the

Nazi aggression.

The rapid changes taking place in the world make

it imperative to strengthen the role of the United

Nations and to adapt it to contemporary realities while

preserving — naturally — its inter-State character and

the immutability of its Charter principles. A

fundamental element of the Organization’s renewal is

the reform of the Security Council. We support a

solution that is based upon the broadest possible

agreement.

The world community faces many challenges,

and the United Nations, as a major mechanism for

global regulation, is today in demand as never before.

Together we will find practical ways to effectively

overcome the threats of the twenty-first century.