(United Nations) The UN is “clearly not perfect”, with a “discredited” Security Council, but it would be “irresponsible” to “turn your back” on it, says the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, insisting on the weight of General Assembly resolutions condemning the Russian invasion.
“The United Nations, clearly, are not perfect”, and have been since their birth in 1945, launches Sergiy Kyslytsya during an interview Thursday with AFP.
“We should have no illusions about the United Nations, it’s true. On the other hand, do we have an alternative to the United Nations? No. »
So “the easiest, but also the most irresponsible, would be to turn your back on the United Nations”, he insists, describing a “bouquet” of States with very diverse opinions with which we must deal.
“The General Assembly and its Member States is a picture of the world as it is, we may not like it, but it is the world,” comments the Ambassador.
“And if France or Ukraine or other countries want to improve it, we can’t use Photoshop, we have to work with each country, with groups of countries, it’s very difficult”.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine and its allies have engineered the adoption by the General Assembly of several resolutions condemning Moscow.
The latest, on the first anniversary of the invasion last February, demanded by an overwhelming majority (141 votes for, 7 against, 32 abstentions) the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.
“It’s not symbolic. It was a real blow to Russia, which was spreading its story that the world was tired, had lost its interest in war,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, for whom these votes also contribute to the “resilience” of the Ukrainian people.
“Not a piece of paradise”
So, even if the Security Council, “paralyzed” on the Ukrainian file by Russia’s right of veto, “is deeply discredited, in the eyes of the Ukrainians but not only, that does not mean that the organization as a whole failed,” he notes, emphasizing the importance of other UN agencies such as the High Commissioner for Refugees.
However, the fact that Russia holds for a month, until Sunday, the rotating presidency of the Council has “dealt a blow to the image” of the UN, he deplores, hoping for a reform of this “system morally perverted” where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chaired a meeting on defending the principles of the UN charter.
“It sickened me. But I’m used to being sickened […] this town is full of hypocrisy. The United Nations is a toxic place, not a slice of heaven.”
But the ambassador also calls not to forget “the success of the secretary general” Antonio Guterres in the conclusion of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals via the black sea.
A secretary general, clear in his condemnation of the Russian invasion, whose “solid moral values and commitment” he salutes.
As for the creation of a special tribunal to try those responsible for the Russian aggression, the question of knowing whether this will go through the UN or not remains open.
Until a few months ago, Ukraine pleaded for a General Assembly resolution.
Today “the discussions are continuing”, notes the ambassador. “Whether we go through the General Assembly or another route is important but not the essence” of the question, he believes. “The main thing is how accountability will be for the crime of aggression.”
And “we must not allow this to fail”.