Ukraine, 2010

On behalf of

Ukraine, I sincerely congratulate His Excellency

Mr. Joseph Deiss on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. I am

convinced that his rich experience will contribute to

the achievement of significant results in our joint work.

We have started our work in New York on a high

note. The Millennium Development Goals summit has

just successfully concluded. The summit outcome

document (resolution 65/1), the Millennium

Declaration (resolution 55/2) and the 2005 World

Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) have become our

road map for sustainable development and a better

future. Their rigorous and coherent implementation is a

common task for all Member States. Ukraine is ready

to work actively to this end.

Ukraine approaches with full responsibility the

issues of poverty eradication, providing high-quality

education, developing proper conditions for preserving

the environment, improving maternal health and

reducing child mortality, curbing HIV/AIDS and

tuberculosis, and ensuring gender equality. Our

achievements as well as the problems we face are set

out in the national report on implementation of the

Millennium Development Goals, which we presented

at the summit.

Today my country is undergoing profound

internal changes. We have finally achieved political

stability and have launched comprehensive economic

and social reforms. In short, Ukraine has been given a

new progressive impetus, allowing us to take real

practical steps towards transformations that are long

overdue. I am confident that it will enable us to

participate more actively in the implementation of the

principles of the United Nations, to which Ukraine has

been committed all along.

The world economic crisis has become a major

problem that has slowed progress in Ukraine as well as

in other countries. Global challenges require a global

response. The world must develop a new financial and

economic system of relations. Further trade

liberalization, prevention of protectionist measures,

new solutions and transparent tools for safeguarding

global competition can contribute to the economic

recovery.

We believe it is necessary to support further

global processes that expand the free movement of

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people, goods, services and capital. New free-trade

areas and visa-free travel regimes are an important

component of the appropriate response to the global

challenges of today.

We all know that sustainable development is

impossible without security and that security is

impossible without development. Ukraine has always

been an active contributor to peace and security

worldwide. I believe that our contribution in that

regard is beyond doubt.

This year Ukraine declared its non-bloc status.

That helped to significantly reduce tension in the

region and to establish a zone of stability and strategic

balance around Ukraine.

In 1994 we were the first in the world to

voluntarily give up our nuclear arsenal, the third most

powerful in the world. Sixteen years have passed, but

that decision by Ukraine has not diminished in

importance. In April of this year, Ukraine took the next

step at the Nuclear Security Summit, held in

Washington, D. C., by announcing its decision to get

rid of all its stocks of highly enriched uranium.

The experience of recent decades shows that

nuclear weapons do not always increase security.

Moreover, countries that try to acquire nuclear

weapons may be exposed to the impact of new risks

and become more vulnerable. The best way to counter

the proliferation of nuclear weapons is to gradually

eliminate them completely. We welcome the signing of

a new START treaty between the United States and

Russia and further reductions of their national nuclear

arsenals.

Today there is also an urgent need for concrete

steps to reduce the risks related to the proliferation of

nuclear materials and technology. We encourage all

Member States to follow our example in the area of

global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

In view of the steps I have just mentioned,

Ukraine hopes to see our international partners

unswervingly comply with their obligations concerning

security guarantees for my country, that is, primarily,

the Budapest Memorandum of 1994. Ukraine insists

that security guarantees for States that have disposed of

their nuclear arsenals and for countries that do not

belong to any military alliance should be reflected in a

legally binding international instrument. That is the

best way to discourage regional nuclear ambitions.

The principles of peaceful coexistence, respect

for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member

States, good neighbourly relations and equality have

always been the cornerstone of Ukraine’s foreign

policy. We believe that the spirit and letter of the

United Nations Charter are the foundation for any

regional agreements and arrangements in the area of

security architecture. Yet our Organization can make

greater use of the potential of existing regional security

mechanisms so as to strengthen global security.

We have never distinguished between our own

woes and those of others. From the very first years of

its independence, Ukraine has actively participated in

United Nations efforts to maintain international peace

and security. We strongly support the strengthening of

United Nations peacekeeping capabilities. Ukraine also

intends to keep working to improve legal protection for

the Blue Helmets. We welcome support for our

initiatives by the Member States.

In our opinion, we also need to develop

mechanisms to respond to new or changing challenges

to international peace and security. One of these is

piracy and armed robbery at sea. I am convinced that

that threat can no longer be underestimated. Without

effective and decisive intervention by the international

community, that evil will only gain force. The United

Nations should play a key role in the fight against

maritime piracy. Ukraine is determined to continue its

efforts to increase international maritime security and

the protection of sailors’ social rights, and we call upon

all Member States to cooperate to that end.

Today, humanity is increasingly confronted with

so-called soft security challenges. The word “soft”

should not mislead us, though. Climate change

constitutes a global threat to the very future of

mankind. The experts are saying today that some of

those changes are irreversible. That is why the

international community should immediately make all

possible efforts to avoid the worst-case scenario. The

political will of all Member States should be

mobilized. By signing the Copenhagen Accord,

Ukraine has taken a step in that direction.

The Earth is our common ship, and it should not

become a Titanic. We believe there should be an

effective international mechanism to protect the

environment of the Earth as our only planet. The world

needs a standing global environmental organization

with universal membership.

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Against the backdrop of environmental, financial,

economic and energy challenges, the peaceful use of

nuclear energy is becoming increasingly crucial. States

that possess nuclear technologies bear a huge

responsibility towards their own people, their

neighbours and all mankind.

Next year, the world will commemorate a sad

date — the twenty-fifth anniversary of the accident at

the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. That tragedy is still

an open wound for us. Overcoming its consequences

remains a serious challenge for the international

community, as the scale of the problem requires a

coordinated effort involving all of our international

partners.

Ukraine plans to host a high-level international

conference on the theme “Twenty-five years after the

Chernobyl disaster: security for the future”. We intend

to hold it in Kiev in April 2011, with United Nations

participation. The forum should assess the progress

made in the restoration and normalization of life in the

affected regions and discuss nuclear safety issues. I

invite all Members to take part in the conference.

Today’s world is changing at an ever-increasing

pace, and our Organization has to change along with it.

The United Nations should be not an observer but an

architect of events. For that to happen, it urgently

needs to undergo comprehensive reform. Ukraine

welcomes the progress we see in the organizational

consolidation of the United Nations, in particular in the

areas of gender equality, protection of women’s rights

and peacebuilding.

However, far-reaching changes are impossible

without modernization of the core of the United

Nations: the Security Council. The transformation of

the Security Council into an entity that is more

representative and balanced in composition, with

improved working methods and higher transparency, is

an essential precondition for increasing its

effectiveness and for adapting the United Nations to

the world’s current practices and procedures.

Ukraine stands ready to discuss all progressive

concepts relating to Security Council reform. We

believe that the key to success is to take into account

the interests of all the underrepresented regional

groups, including the Eastern European States. I would

like to take this opportunity to confirm Ukraine’s

intention to obtain membership in the Security Council

for the period of 2016-2017.

I am confident that the work of the sixty-fifth

session of the General Assembly session will be an

important step on the road towards a peaceful, safe and

prosperous world — a world of freedom, democracy

and effective international cooperation. To achieve

those ends, we have strong political will, a clear

understanding of the challenges and a common vision

of the problems. I believe in our success.