UNGA78 First Committee
Regional disarmament and security cluster debate
Statement of the Republic of Estonia, delivered by Mr Mattias Varem, Third Secretary
New York, 25 October 2023
Thank you, Mr. Chair,
Estonia aligns itself with the statement of the European Union. In addition, I would like to make some remarks in my national capacity.
I would like to begin by saying that we follow the developments in the Middle-East with great concern. We condemn the brutal attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas against Israel and call for the immediate release of hostages. The solving of the crisis must be in line with the International Humanitarian Law. The protection of civilians should be imperative.
In Europe, as we speak, for the 609th day we continue to witness the biggest war since the end of the Second World War. Fuelled by a dictator’s neo-imperial fixation of erasing sovereign Ukraine from the map. Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine blatantly violates international law, including its obligations under the Helsinki Final Act, the UN Charter and the Statute of the International atomic Energy Agency.
The use of military force and coercion to change borders has no place in the 21st Russia itself agreed to this when agreeing to the G20 joint-declaration on the 9th of September. Russia’s illegal attempts to annex parts of Ukraine’s territory will never be recognized by the international community. Territorial integrity is a central pillar of the United Nations. Threats to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of any State are undermining multilateralism and international law.
We condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s campaign of missile and drone attacks to deliberately target civilians and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. The UN has reported that renewed attacks have taken place against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving millions of innocent civilians, including children, to fight for survival in cold winter months. These heinous attacks are in clear violation of international humanitarian law and are often committed with help of Iran and the DPRK. The respective transfers of weapons are violations of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. We call upon Iran and the DPRK to stop participating in the killings of innocent Ukrainians and providing Russia with these weapons.
Mr. Chair,
Russia’s unprovoked full-scale aggression against Ukraine has changed the European security architecture. Even before the war, we did not see readiness from the Russian side to show openness and transparency of its military activities as enshrined in the various regional arms control arrangements, including in the OSCE. By today, Russia has moved from selectively implementing its arms control obligations to completely violating near all of them. Russia’s latest announcements to withdraw from the Treaty on Conventional Arms Forces in Europe and revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty further erode the international arms control architecture, to the detriment of our collective security. Clearly, Russia´s actions are a part of a long-standing pattern to discredit the work of our Committee, undermine and weaken the international arms control architecture, and the global rules-based order.
Russia´s aggression has also put the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities at grave risk, potentially endangering the populations of Ukraine, its neighboring States and other countries. In addition, Russia’s placement of nuclear warheads to Belarus combined with the increased use of nuclear blackmail are further signs of Russia’s irresponsibility and immaturity as a P5 Member State. This must end. Russia must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. Belarus, Iran and the DPRK must stop their voluntary facilitation of this aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine must prevail and we will stand firmly by their side and will do so for as long as it takes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.