This Monday, February 28, the extraordinary session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly was held to analyze and make decisions on the situation in Ukraine, after the military intervention of the Russian Federation.
The permanent representative in New York, Carlos Amorín, participated on behalf of Uruguay. In his speech, he ratified Uruguay’s “strong condemnation” of “the Russian invasion of the territory of Ukraine.”
“The violation of the basic principles on which this international organization has been built, enshrined in article 2 of the San Francisco Charter, is something that its members cannot let go without reacting,” said the diplomat.
He added that the members of the UN have the responsibility to “ensure the maintenance of international peace and security and the objectives enshrined in its charter.”
Amorín said that “it is completely unacceptable that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine are subjugated.”
He added that Ukraine is part of the United Nations and the principles and purposes of its Charter are applicable to all its members.
He considered that the recognition of the separatist entities of Donesk and Lugansk by the Russian Federation, “as well as the displacement of military forces towards those regions, ignoring internationally recognized borders and the commission of acts of military aggression against Ukrainian territory are a serious and unjustifiable violation of international law that the members of the United Nations have the obligation to denounce and condemn”.
Peaceful settlement of disputes
The Uruguayan representative to the United Nations stated that the rejection of the use or threat of force and the peaceful settlement of disputes “constitute guiding principles of Uruguay’s foreign policy.”
In accordance with them, Uruguay has urged the parties involved to “continue efforts to resolve their differences exclusively by peaceful means through diplomatic negotiations.”
He reiterated that any solution reached must “respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” The territorial integrity of states “is a principle contained in the charter of the United Nations, a peremptory norm of general international law that all countries must respect.”
Amorín added that this principle is a “central piece in peaceful coexistence and cooperation among members of the international community.”
He stated that “its flagrant violation in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine takes the international system back to times when borders were regularly unknown and, therefore, causes of endless wars and loss of human life.”
He said that “all countries have the right to live within secure and internationally recognized borders.” In addition, he recalled that “the occupation or acquisition of territories by force do not generate any rights and are contrary to international law.”
He underscored Uruguay’s commitment to peace and international legality. “For us, the validity and respect for international law is a factor that identifies us as a nation and that justifies our belonging to the multilateral system.”
“It pains us to know that attitudes of detachment from common values persist in the international community, serious violations of the principles that we have all given ourselves to coexist harmoniously on this planet and, above all, the use of force to resolve conflicts of interest. between states,” he said.
The diplomat pointed out that “Uruguay will never accept or justify war as an instrument of international politics”, for which he urges the Russian Federation to “withdraw all its military personnel from Ukrainian territory”, and renewed his appeal to all parties to the conflict to back to the negotiating table.
He stated that resolution 2200 (2015) of the United Nations Security Council “opened a path to peace that has not yet been traveled.” The Minsk Agreements are the basis for a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict.
