Ambassador Holland commends Ukraine's agreement to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and urges Russia to show that it is serious about peace by agreeing to one without further delay.
Thank you, Mister Chair. We all want to see an end to the fighting and an enduring peace in Ukraine. We thank the United States for their efforts to deliver this, including during talks this week in Riyadh.
Under President Zelenskyy's leadership, Ukraine has shown that it is the party of peace. They have proposed a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire. The only condition that Ukraine attached to this was that Russia should agree to it too. To date, Russia has not done so. We hope that President Putin will agree to this without further delay.
The ball remains in Russia's court to demonstrate that the words we have heard about Russia wanting peace are sincere.
It can do so by removing conditions designed to hamper and delay US-led efforts to end the fighting. It can do so by ceasing the attacks which continue to kill and injure innocent civilians at a pace which has not changed despite the altered context. And it can do so by showing that it is able to honour, in good faith, past agreements it has signed, starting with the Geneva Conventions, which include rules on the targeting of healthcare and minimising civilian casualties. The Russian State has shown little regard for these laws since it launched its full-scale invasion, an attitude that continues to this day.
We will not lose sight of the fact that this remains an illegal and unprovoked war against an independent, sovereign nation. It is a violation of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. And the longer it takes President Putin to agree to end the fighting, the more innocent lives will be lost.
Mister Chair, I would also like to say a few words about the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine. As you know, the SMM was in place between 2014 and 2022. The men and women of the SMM performed their functions with integrity and professionalism. They did so despite a risk to their safety, a risk underlined by the tragic deaths of two of its members and the arbitrary arrest and continued detention by Russia of three of its staff: Vadym Golda, Maxim Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov.
The SMM's task - to provide independent and objective reporting on the security situation in Ukraine - was made impossible by Russia and its proxies restricting its movements and mandate. Blaming the OSCE for these flaws is disinformation and distraction. This organisation and its staff deserve better. Thank you, Mister Chair.
