May 15, 2023
Madam President,
I thank Mr. Griffiths for his briefing.
The United Nations Secretary-General stated it clearly on February 22 when this Council was meeting exactly one year after Russia launched its war against Ukraine: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an affront to our collective conscience. It is a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law. It challenges the cornerstone principles and values of our multilateral system. It is having dramatic humanitarian and human rights consequences.”
The death toll of this war keeps rising. Since April 28, the Russian army has resumed its large-scale air strikes on the entire Ukrainian territory. The Russian aggression has already resulted in at least 23,000 civilian casualties, including more than a thousand children. This is only a fraction of the real death toll, since the verification process is facing major challenges, including the impossibility of access to areas temporarily occupied by Russia. Journalists, who bravely cover the conflict to establish facts, are also exposed, as the death of French journalist Arman Soldin has tragically demonstrated.
On Ukrainian territory, nearly 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. France will continue to express its solidarity for as long as necessary, responding to these needs through its bilateral aid and within the European framework, as well as through its support to the United Nations, to NGOs, and to other humanitarian actors.
Madam President,
Since February 2022, Russia has perpetrated countless violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Some of these violations qualify as war crimes and even crimes against humanity. Russia has deliberately targeted civilian populations and infrastructure. Crimes perpetrated against civilians, killings, rapes, deliberate attacks against hospitals, schools, maternity hospitals, forced displacement of populations, deportations and forced transfers of children should not go unpunished.
Fighting against impunity is crucial because there can be no lasting peace without justice. France is firmly committed to ensuring that perpetrators of mass abuses are held accountable for their actions and prosecuted. France recently donated a second mobile DNA laboratory to Ukraine to help document these crimes.
Madam President,
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is having dramatic negative consequences on Ukraine and on the world, consequences Russia alone bears full responsibility for. By invading Ukraine, Russia has increased global insecurity and malnutrition. By restricting sea exports through the Black Sea, Russia has chosen to exploit some countries’ vulnerabilities to fluctuations in grain markets. We call upon Russia not to block the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which benefits the most vulnerable populations.
France will continue, along with its European partners, to increase its action to reduce risks of food insecurity. France will do this in particular through the European Union’s ” Solidarity Lanes “, which have so far allowed for the export by river and land of more than 32 million tons of cereals and other food products.
Madam President,
I would like to conclude by quoting once again the United Nations Secretary-General, who has constantly reminded us that the Charter is clear and the Organization’s position unambiguous: Russia’s war “has no place in the modern world” and “must not be accepted”. “It is high time to step back from the brink.” We know that a just and lasting peace must be based on the United Nations Charter and on international law. France will continue to stand by Ukraine to achieve it.
Thank you.