Statement by H.E. Ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, during the Security Council Meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
We are pleased to welcome you today, Mr. Minister, as President of the Security Council. We also congratulate Jordan on its assumption of the presidency of the Council.
The General Assembly has designated the year 2014 the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The Russian Federation shares the Secretary-General’s belief that the year represents an important stage in achieving the two-State solution and stands ready to make every effort to ensure that it becomes a reality. However, as in any quarrel, the resolution of this out-dated dispute must be worked out by the conflicting parties. We are carefully following the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process, including attempts — first and foremost by the United States of America — to bring the parties towards an agreed framework to define the future principles of the final status solution.
Russia is in favour of a comprehensive, equitable, long-term settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the well-known international framework of the establishment of an integral, independent Palestinian State within internationally recognized borders, existing in peace and security with all of its neighbours. Naturally, any solution must be acceptable to both sides; imposed or inequitable solutions will not last long. We continue to actively participate in negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis on a bilateral or multilateral basis and, especially, within the framework of the international mediators of the Middle East Quartet.
In that context, we note the scaling-up of efforts at the level of Special Representative, in which context the most recent meeting took place in Paris on 12 January. We believe that that meeting was most useful. It is our continuing belief that the Quartet’s efforts should also draw upon the work of the League of Arab States. In our contacts with Palestinians and Israelis, we continue to urge both sides towards substantive negotiations on all final status issues. In two days, my country will welcome the President of Palestine, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, to Moscow.
We are extremely concerned regarding the situation on the ground. Settlement construction continues, effectively annulling even small good-will gestures, such as the freeing of Palestinian detainees who had been in Israeli prisons since the signing of the Oslo accords. We are also concerned about continuing raids by the Israeli military in the West Bank, which have resulted in the killing and wounding of many Palestinians, as well as rampant settler violence.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of Palestinians evicted from homes that were demolished by Israel in 2013 totalled 1,100, representing a 25 per cent increase over the previous year. We also adamantly condemn the launching of rockets against Israeli territory, whatever justification might be presented. Security breaches along the Gaza Strip must cease. All of these aggravating incidents are far from conducive to the holding of negotiations.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is not improving; on the contrary, the isolation of Gaza from the rest of the world is growing, which only exacerbates the negative social, economic and humanitarian consequences. The problem of Gaza should be resolved comprehensively, including through the full lifting of the Israeli blockade and the restoration of a united administration in the Palestinian territories. We remain convinced that bridging the existing Palestinian split on the basis of the Palestinian Authority’s platform and the Arab Peace Initiative would be in line with the aspirations for peace for Israel and Palestine. Achieving a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli solution — and, even less likely, consolidating its results — will clearly be impossible without Palestinian unity.
We attach great significance to the launching of talks between the Government of Syria and the opposition, with the constructive assistance of the international community. We support the Secretary-General’s responsible principled approach in issuing an invitation to participate in those efforts to all those who could directly have an influence on the situation in Syria, including Iran. Not ensuring the participation of such key players would be an unforgivable error. Those who would call into question that need are clearly not interested in an equitable resolution of the Syrian crisis. We call upon the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which has decided to attend the Conference, and invite it to cease the practice of imposing preconditions. We find it unfortunate that the opposition delegation does not include the participation of patriotic groups of internal opponents, such as the National Coordination Committee and a number of leading Kurdish groups, which constitutes an attack on the credibility and the representative nature of the opposition.
We would nevertheless like to note the intention and full readiness of the Syrian Government to send to Switzerland a representative and a fully mandated delegation. We also note other measures taken by Damascus, such as its response to the Russian appeal concerning the humanitarian situation. That pertains to the delivery of humanitarian goods in residential areas in Guta and other areas, including Damascus and Aleppo. In that regard, we have seen a willingness to exchange civilians taken hostage by fighters in exchange for prisoners in Government prisons. The practical implementation of those measures requires cooperation by the armed opposition in ensuring safe access for humanitarian goods. We hope that the Government, which has stood ready to do that, will be met with similar steps by the opposition. We expect that the pledges made in Kuwait will be honoured soon. It is important that the United Nations streamline the contributions and distribute the various types of assistance that have been offered.
We continue to work tirelessly to bolster inter-Syrian dialogue to finally put an end to the bloodshed, to stop making Syria into a hotbed of international and regional terrorism, to ensure conditions for peace and calm, and to ensure that the country retains its sovereign territorial integrity and as a secular and an independent State where all rights of ethnic and interreligious groups are ensured.
