5 February 2025
Mr. President,
We wish you and your colleagues a successful presidency in February, and we also thank our Algerian colleagues for their excellent work in January.
We are grateful to Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mr. Nicholas Haysom, to Interim Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) Major General Charles Tai Gituai, and to the representative of South Sudanese civil society Mr. Edmund Yakani. We are grateful to all of them for the information provided. We welcome the participation of the Permanent Representative of South Sudan in our today’s meeting.
We have closely studied the report by the Secretary General on the situation in the Republic of South Sudan. We took note of the decision taken by the Government of South Sudan to extend the transitional period by two years and to postpone the general elections until December 2026. We are convinced that the issues related to voting are internal matters of this country.
In recent years, the leadership of South Sudan has managed to achieve relative stability and tangible progress in State-building and resolving security issues. We expect that the South Sudanese parties will show resolve and political will to fully implement the provisions of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and will make the necessary efforts to fully abide by the new timelines.
What should be given momentum is the formation of unified armed forces to be a guarantor of further progress in the peace process. What is needed to this end is not only the efforts by the South Sudanese authorities, but also the constructive approach by the opposition movements. The sanctions regime against South Sudan continues to challenge the deployment and consolidation of State security institutions. The parameters of the international arms embargo are outdated and require revision. We do hope that this understanding of the issue will prevail in May when we are to discuss the language of the relevant UNSC resolution. What is of fundamental importance here is to ensure that approaches of our A3 colleagues play a decisive role with regard to South Sudan.
We are concerned about the tense humanitarian situation in South Sudan, which is compounded by frequent natural disasters, refugees fleeing from neighboring Sudan, and the South Sudanese returnees coming back to their homeland. This has significantly exacerbated the already dire situation in the northern states and has posed a serious challenge for the country as a whole. However, the Sudanese authorities (with the full support from UNMISS and humanitarian agencies) have managed so far to keep the situation under control.
We support the international steps undertaken to normalize the situation and strengthen peace and security in South Sudan. We pay tribute to the relevant mediation efforts by the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). A significant contribution to implementing the specific provisions of the Revitalized Peace Agreement is made by UNMISS itself, and Russia fully supports the Mission.
We strongly condemn any violations of the Revitalized Peace Agreement, and any acts of violence against civilians, including against the UN personnel and humanitarian workers operating in the country.
We hope that both the South Sudanese authorities and the UNMISS leadership will show reciprocal flexibility in resolving current issues and will have a constructive approach to resolving potential thorny points.
Thank you.