Ukraine needs ‘realizable’ peace, Security Council hearing, meeting on the anniversary of the Minsk accords
“Peace is not just signing an agreement“Miroslav Jenča, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, who briefed the members at the meeting requested by the Russian Federation – when almost a year has elapsed since The Kremlin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Jenča emphasized that Turning words on paper into actions on the ground is especially important considering the current complexity of the situation in Ukraine, as well as its implications for the future of the European security architecture “and the international order itself”.
ceasefire on paper
The Minsk Agreements – also known as the Minsk II agreement – were signed in February 2015 by representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Russia, Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. and Luhansk People’s Republic.
Contract set out a series of political and military steps to end the war between government forces and separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Among other provisions, the Minsk Agreements allow the signatories to commit to an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – an element many consider to have never come into effect. force.
The Security Council traditionally meet every year on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of the Minsk agreements.
There is no official role for the UN
Mr. Jenča reminded the Security Council on Friday that The United Nations has not played a formal role in any mechanism related to the peace process in Ukraine, for the past eight years.
It was not invited to participate in the various negotiations in Minsk, or to participate in the 2014 and 2015 agreements, and it did not participate in the efforts made by the OSCE Tripartite Contact Group – which includes representatives of the three parties.
However, The UN has consistently supported the implementationincluding through the unanimous approval of the Security Council resolution 2202 (2015) on February 17, 2015.
The organization has also offered to assist, when requested and appropriate, and provide technical assistance to the now defunct OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in eastern Ukraine.
At the same time, Jenča said, the UN firmly supports its principle for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.
‘Shocked and deeply disappointed’
Also reported to the Council is Martin Sajdik, who served as the OSCE Special Representative for the Minsk negotiations from 2015 to 2019.
In addition to Minsk II, he provided an overview of other diplomatic strides and failures during his term, agreeing that many provisions lack the necessary political will become a reality on earth.
Emphasizing the OSCE’s focus on the safety and needs of civilians on both sides of the line of communication, he said the number of civilian casualties had dropped significantly in the years leading up to the current outbreak of fighting. .
Among other successes, water management and conditions at border crossings improved in 2019, a year that saw – for the first time since the start of fighting in 2014 – not a single any child killed in the war.
Amid those hard-won achievements, Mr Sajdik expressed “deep shock and disappointment” at the surge in violence that has rocked Ukraine since 2022.
