UN Security Council High-Level Briefing “Maintenance of Peace and Security of Ukraine”
Statement delivered by H.E. Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania on behalf of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
24 September 2024, New York
Your Excellency Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia,
Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and my own country, Lithuania.
We came here to discuss maintaining peace and security of Ukraine. Before turning our attention to the future, I suggest that we also talk about the past and the present.
Ukraine had been perfectly secure from external threats before this security was snatched away. Before the illegal occupation of Crimea. Before invasion into Donbass. Before the wholescale war of aggression of 2022.
Right now, Ukraine has neither peace, nor security. And it is Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, that is directly responsible for putting not only European, but global peace and security under threat.
Let me remind you that this great organization was created to prevent both wars of aggression and war crimes. “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war…” That is how the United Nations Charter begins. And we continue to fail that promise to this very day!
It is truly a shame that Russia is still able to hide behind the veto power and actively uses this power to cover crimes of its’ partners’. Each and every person in this room knows about Kremlin’s many crimes – I won’t repeat the whole list now!
What the Baltic states demand is accountability. The whole political and military leadership of Russia must be held accountable, as well as their major accomplices. Special International Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine must be established. War criminals must be arrested under ICC arrest warrants by the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.
The Baltic states acknowledge that there will be no true accountability without Ukraine’s decisive victory. Peace can only be achieved through the full restoration of Ukraine’s territory within its internationally recognized borders. Security can only be guaranteed by Russia’s acknowledgment that it will never prevail over the brave Ukrainian people.
Therefore, it is the duty of the international community to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Until its final victory.
Slava Ukraini!
