On behalf of
Ukraine, I sincerely congratulate His Excellency
Mr. Joseph Deiss on his election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. I am
convinced that his rich experience will contribute to
the achievement of significant results in our joint work.
We have started our work in New York on a high
note. The Millennium Development Goals summit has
just successfully concluded. The summit outcome
document (resolution 65/1), the Millennium
Declaration (resolution 55/2) and the 2005 World
Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) have become our
road map for sustainable development and a better
future. Their rigorous and coherent implementation is a
common task for all Member States. Ukraine is ready
to work actively to this end.
Ukraine approaches with full responsibility the
issues of poverty eradication, providing high-quality
education, developing proper conditions for preserving
the environment, improving maternal health and
reducing child mortality, curbing HIV/AIDS and
tuberculosis, and ensuring gender equality. Our
achievements as well as the problems we face are set
out in the national report on implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals, which we presented
at the summit.
Today my country is undergoing profound
internal changes. We have finally achieved political
stability and have launched comprehensive economic
and social reforms. In short, Ukraine has been given a
new progressive impetus, allowing us to take real
practical steps towards transformations that are long
overdue. I am confident that it will enable us to
participate more actively in the implementation of the
principles of the United Nations, to which Ukraine has
been committed all along.
The world economic crisis has become a major
problem that has slowed progress in Ukraine as well as
in other countries. Global challenges require a global
response. The world must develop a new financial and
economic system of relations. Further trade
liberalization, prevention of protectionist measures,
new solutions and transparent tools for safeguarding
global competition can contribute to the economic
recovery.
We believe it is necessary to support further
global processes that expand the free movement of
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people, goods, services and capital. New free-trade
areas and visa-free travel regimes are an important
component of the appropriate response to the global
challenges of today.
We all know that sustainable development is
impossible without security and that security is
impossible without development. Ukraine has always
been an active contributor to peace and security
worldwide. I believe that our contribution in that
regard is beyond doubt.
This year Ukraine declared its non-bloc status.
That helped to significantly reduce tension in the
region and to establish a zone of stability and strategic
balance around Ukraine.
In 1994 we were the first in the world to
voluntarily give up our nuclear arsenal, the third most
powerful in the world. Sixteen years have passed, but
that decision by Ukraine has not diminished in
importance. In April of this year, Ukraine took the next
step at the Nuclear Security Summit, held in
Washington, D. C., by announcing its decision to get
rid of all its stocks of highly enriched uranium.
The experience of recent decades shows that
nuclear weapons do not always increase security.
Moreover, countries that try to acquire nuclear
weapons may be exposed to the impact of new risks
and become more vulnerable. The best way to counter
the proliferation of nuclear weapons is to gradually
eliminate them completely. We welcome the signing of
a new START treaty between the United States and
Russia and further reductions of their national nuclear
arsenals.
Today there is also an urgent need for concrete
steps to reduce the risks related to the proliferation of
nuclear materials and technology. We encourage all
Member States to follow our example in the area of
global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
In view of the steps I have just mentioned,
Ukraine hopes to see our international partners
unswervingly comply with their obligations concerning
security guarantees for my country, that is, primarily,
the Budapest Memorandum of 1994. Ukraine insists
that security guarantees for States that have disposed of
their nuclear arsenals and for countries that do not
belong to any military alliance should be reflected in a
legally binding international instrument. That is the
best way to discourage regional nuclear ambitions.
The principles of peaceful coexistence, respect
for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member
States, good neighbourly relations and equality have
always been the cornerstone of Ukraine’s foreign
policy. We believe that the spirit and letter of the
United Nations Charter are the foundation for any
regional agreements and arrangements in the area of
security architecture. Yet our Organization can make
greater use of the potential of existing regional security
mechanisms so as to strengthen global security.
We have never distinguished between our own
woes and those of others. From the very first years of
its independence, Ukraine has actively participated in
United Nations efforts to maintain international peace
and security. We strongly support the strengthening of
United Nations peacekeeping capabilities. Ukraine also
intends to keep working to improve legal protection for
the Blue Helmets. We welcome support for our
initiatives by the Member States.
In our opinion, we also need to develop
mechanisms to respond to new or changing challenges
to international peace and security. One of these is
piracy and armed robbery at sea. I am convinced that
that threat can no longer be underestimated. Without
effective and decisive intervention by the international
community, that evil will only gain force. The United
Nations should play a key role in the fight against
maritime piracy. Ukraine is determined to continue its
efforts to increase international maritime security and
the protection of sailors’ social rights, and we call upon
all Member States to cooperate to that end.
Today, humanity is increasingly confronted with
so-called soft security challenges. The word “soft”
should not mislead us, though. Climate change
constitutes a global threat to the very future of
mankind. The experts are saying today that some of
those changes are irreversible. That is why the
international community should immediately make all
possible efforts to avoid the worst-case scenario. The
political will of all Member States should be
mobilized. By signing the Copenhagen Accord,
Ukraine has taken a step in that direction.
The Earth is our common ship, and it should not
become a Titanic. We believe there should be an
effective international mechanism to protect the
environment of the Earth as our only planet. The world
needs a standing global environmental organization
with universal membership.
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Against the backdrop of environmental, financial,
economic and energy challenges, the peaceful use of
nuclear energy is becoming increasingly crucial. States
that possess nuclear technologies bear a huge
responsibility towards their own people, their
neighbours and all mankind.
Next year, the world will commemorate a sad
date — the twenty-fifth anniversary of the accident at
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. That tragedy is still
an open wound for us. Overcoming its consequences
remains a serious challenge for the international
community, as the scale of the problem requires a
coordinated effort involving all of our international
partners.
Ukraine plans to host a high-level international
conference on the theme “Twenty-five years after the
Chernobyl disaster: security for the future”. We intend
to hold it in Kiev in April 2011, with United Nations
participation. The forum should assess the progress
made in the restoration and normalization of life in the
affected regions and discuss nuclear safety issues. I
invite all Members to take part in the conference.
Today’s world is changing at an ever-increasing
pace, and our Organization has to change along with it.
The United Nations should be not an observer but an
architect of events. For that to happen, it urgently
needs to undergo comprehensive reform. Ukraine
welcomes the progress we see in the organizational
consolidation of the United Nations, in particular in the
areas of gender equality, protection of women’s rights
and peacebuilding.
However, far-reaching changes are impossible
without modernization of the core of the United
Nations: the Security Council. The transformation of
the Security Council into an entity that is more
representative and balanced in composition, with
improved working methods and higher transparency, is
an essential precondition for increasing its
effectiveness and for adapting the United Nations to
the world’s current practices and procedures.
Ukraine stands ready to discuss all progressive
concepts relating to Security Council reform. We
believe that the key to success is to take into account
the interests of all the underrepresented regional
groups, including the Eastern European States. I would
like to take this opportunity to confirm Ukraine’s
intention to obtain membership in the Security Council
for the period of 2016-2017.
I am confident that the work of the sixty-fifth
session of the General Assembly session will be an
important step on the road towards a peaceful, safe and
prosperous world — a world of freedom, democracy
and effective international cooperation. To achieve
those ends, we have strong political will, a clear
understanding of the challenges and a common vision
of the problems. I believe in our success.