Statement by Foreign Minister of Belarus M.Ryzhenkov at the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter (September 27, 2024, New York)

Excellencies,
Dear colleagues and friends,

It is a great honour for me for the first time in the capacity of Minister of Foreign Affairs to participate in this Sixth Ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations. 

Like at our previous meeting held in Kampala (Republic of Uganda) in January this year, today we are to consider the latest developments of the situation in Gaza strip and in the region of the Middle East as a whole.
Belarus deeply regrets of the ongoing sufferings of the civilians and the lack of proper humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in need. While condemning the ongoing bloodshed, my country has always advocated a two-State solution to the conflict with a fully independent Palestinian state.

From our point, one of the major impediments on the road to peace is uncovered encouragement of Israel by the United States to use military force for the achievement of its goals.

In this regard our political declarations should be considered not only as political slogans but rather as some road maps how to achieve a sustainable peace based on the provisions of the UN Charter. It would give us real power to make our diplomatic efforts more successful.

As before, during the current session Belarus will continue promoting the need to resume a broad international dialogue with the participation of all States in the spirit of San Francisco, spirit of hope and unity, which gave birth to the United Nations.

It’s a paradox, that today we have to unite to defense our Charter, which is at stake.

That means that something goes wrong in our interaction.

To this end we stand for restoring measures of confidence, security and co-operation throughout the world. 

We need to overcome colonial ambitions which are still popular in the West. In this regard Belarus readily supports the new UNGA resolution pertaining to elimination of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations. We think it’s a good start for the Group to explore its new capacity as a sponsor of the UNGA resolutions. We hope that the Group will be very instrumental on this and manage to increase its initiatives by means of UN resolutions on other topical issues.

The issue of combating illegal unilateral sanctions (UCMs), which are in essence today a new colonial instrument of the destructive foreign policy of certain States, and in particular the widespread awareness of the dire consequences of such measures, which have a direct negative impact on sustainable development. 

We commend the first ever UNGA meeting in relation to UCMs and inclusion a separate item into the UNGA agenda. 

We think that the issue of UCMs must remain a priority for the Group due to its clear link to the UN Charter. 

We would propose to the Group of Friends to play a more prominent role in eradication of the problem.

In this regard we would appreciate it if your esteemed Heads of the delegations at the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly could mention in their national statements the need to refrain from any UCMs and lift bans and restrictions pertaining to the Belarusian fertilizers on the international markets, in particular in the context of the negative impact on the global food security.

Let’s try to draft an international treaty against unilateral coercive measures. Such idea is discussed on the margins of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

I hope that you will find our ideas and proposals deserving thorough consideration.

To conclude I would like you to rest assured that Belarus will continue to be an active member of the Group in promoting common principles for the betterment of our future we want.

Thank you.