'Does This Bring About Prosperity For Europe?': Russian Rep. To UN Slams German Remilitarization

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:02]I thank his excellency Mr. Damp for the statement. I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation.

[00:00:09]>> Mr. President, we wish to welcome the participation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of China uh the convening of the open debate by China in defense and upholding the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter. We listened closely to the statement delivered by the Secretary General. The Russian delegation had to based on the invitation of uh the foreign minister Wong Yi should have been represented during today's meeting at the level of the deputy foreign minister for foreign affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Alimo of who oversees matters related to the United Nations. However, despite all of our attempts to persuade the US side to issue a visa to him, that visa visa was ultimately not granted. We view this not just as a breach by Washington of its obligations under the United Nations headquarters agreement according to which access to headquarters of the United Nations needs to be provided for all officials of member states barring none. But we also view this as an egregious instance of disrespect for the Chinese presidency of the security council and of the topic that is under discussion today that of the charter of the United Nations. Mr. President, the Charter of the United Nations was signed following the Second World War, the 81st anniversary of the victory of which we commemorated this month, is a unique document which has helped to forge a system of international relations which saved the world despite mushrooming risks and challenges from the horrors of a new world war. The soundness of the post war world order was repeatedly put to the test to the test at that at some at that point it seemed that the greatest peril was a confrontation of incompatible ideology ideologies during the second world war. However, years passed and the bipolar system was consigned to the past and today we have reached closer than ever before a global disaster. We are bearing witness not merely uh to ubiquitous breaches of the United Nations charter but also the casting of doubt on its value and obligation to comply therewith.

[00:02:20]Instead of this, a group of countries uh uh spearheaded by the west are proposing some kind of a rules-based order which they themselves have both designed and have portrayed as a replacement as portrayed as those rules of theirs as universal.

[00:02:38]And today disregard and contempt for the charter of the United Nations charter that cornerstone document has reached its peak. Driven by desire to preserve their dominant position in the world, Western elites have shed any remaining qualms about the use of brute force for the advancement of their political and economic interests. They continuing to hunt for resources and influence in their former colonies first and foremost in Africa. They are engaged in an open fight against inconvenient sovereign countries. They are imposing in new spaces in Asia NATO unions which directly uh undermine uh threaten to undermine collective security there by using organizations under their control and media outlets under their control.

[00:03:29]They are diverting the international community's attention away from the real root causes of conflict, spawning double standards which cause those who are striving to approach conscientiously respect for the charter of the United Nations to lose their bearings. Under these circumstances, our duty is to cherish the charter, its purposes and principles in their full and integrated way. its mechanisms for checks and balances which are designed to defend the interests not just of the majority but also of the minority.

[00:04:01]We mustn't lose sight of the fact that the United Nations was created not by idol theoreticians. It was established by people who experienced the horrors of the second world war who themselves paid the price of peace. The singularity of the chart of the United Nations lies in the fact that it has vested all states with equal rights. On its basis, the United Nations has helped peoples oppressed by colonialism to become free and to become the global majority, proclaiming the goal to facilitate social social and economic progress of all peoples without exception as well as to promote respect for the dignity of all individuals without distinction as to race, sex, language, and religion. It is indeed the charter that has established the principle of collective action first and foremost in the area of security under the stewardship and leadership of the security council.

[00:04:53]Today we have heard a great deal of criticism of the United Nations.

[00:04:57]However, one must not deny the fact that the United Nations has changed the international landscape and our mindsets. The UN has set and continues to set the international standard for justice which had been inaccessible to humankind prior to its establishment.

[00:05:14]And the world around us is far from ideal. War armed conflicts are spreading. People are being persecuted for their mother tongues and language and faith as is the case in Ukraine. We certainly are aware of the fact that the situation is not in alignment with the chart of the United Nations and there's a need for us to revert back to the principle of justice. Mr. President, the chart of the United Nations has become the benchmark of justice, not just in terms of its goals and mechanisms, but al also in the acknowledgement of the victory in the Second World War, the victory over Nazism and fascism, the reminder of which is reflected in article 107 thereof, which spells out the continued responsibility of what is called for in the charter enemy states for their grave crimes following the world the second world war. This applies first and foremost to the leader of such a state, Nazi Germany. Let us recall that prior to 1973, Germany was sidelined by the United Nations, did not recognize borders in Europe, and refused to endorse non-use of force against its eastern neighbors. The situation was changed by the 1970 Moscow treaty between the USSR and Germany wherein only 25 years after Nazi Germany was defeated, Bon agreed to recognize the territorial realities of Europe and to issue the use of force. This treaty paved the way for the entry of West Germany and East Germany into the United Nations and established the foundation for cooperation within Europe. The air of cooperation in Europe brought about prosperity, a part of which was the unification of Germany. However, shortsighted politicians in Europe decided to be more clever. They determined that cooperation is not their method. Better to use blackmail and intimidation. There's a need to once again seize lands in the east. This time under the banner of the expansion of NATO and the European Union. These imperialist designs are expanding eastward without consideration for the views of the peoples of the countries they have seized. They are relying on paying off the elites and colored resol revolutions.

[00:07:27]But today the European elite has decided to cast off its masks and to bank on overt use of armed force actively becoming engaged in the crisis in Ukraine, including through unprecedented deliveries of weapons. As we repeated, as we stated during one of the security council meetings, Germany has no qualms about fueling with weapons the conflict in Gaza, including by providing new technologies. On the 22nd of April, the German foreign minister decided to make the aggressive plans of his state a public asset.

[00:08:00]With the publication of the main documents delineating the strategic direction of the German armed forces, what follows is that that country plans to become the main military force in Europe and to bear responsibility for its security. That is what the document states.

[00:08:20]The goal of unprecedented scaling up of armed forces and weapons is being proclaimed. And furthermore, Germany together with France are establishing a certain highlevel nuclear steering group. They are announcing participation in doctrinal dialogue and strategic cooperation with France on the necessary combination of conventional weapons and missiles and French nuclear capabilities. End of quote. Germany is beginning to shift its military posture eastward, deploying a contingent to Lithuania. Germany has announced goals and actions which run counter to the 1990 treaty on the final settlement with respect to Germany. This treaty which is the basis for the unification of that country which establishes a very concrete concrete limitations on German armed forces as well as a ban on possession of nuclear weapons and that same treaty stipulates that peace alone must emanate from German territory.

[00:09:22]So a question follows uh the re remmilitarization of German and the policy of confrontation. Does this bring about prosperity for Europe, prosperity which can be compared to that which the region achieved during the era of cooperation with the USSR and the Russian Federation in the 1970s and early 2000s. The response is clear in our view not only and it is not merely reflected in economic development indicators. Mr. President the remilitarization remilitarization is also being embraced by other countries which fall within the purview of article 107 of the UN charter. Japan for example is augmenting its armed forces and weapons deliveries is openly engaged in discussions about amendments to its constitution which places uh limitations in this area following the second world war. The policy of remilitarization is uh undermining the UN-entric international system. countries that were defeated during the Second World War are seeking plausible pre pretexts for rewriting its outcomes and their rhetoric should not mislead anybody.

[00:10:25]This is a very dangerous trend which warrants the attention of the entire international community. Mr. President, throughout the world, the situation is teetering on the cusp of war and peace.

[00:10:38]Our alarmed gaze is riveted on the situation in the Middle East. the hawkish rhetoric targeting Cuba. We firmly believe that this is the road to nowhere. We need to help one another avert a global crisis to restore the United Nations role as honest broker.

[00:10:55]However, to start, as was the case in the past, there's a need to reaffirm consensus under the core parameters of international cooperation. We believe that achievement of this goal was advanced by the initiative which was advanced in June 2024. The Russian president's initiative for establishing a new architecture for equal and indivisible security in Eurasia fully open to all states and subregional organizations there. The elements set out in its uh foundation vest each state with the right to uphold and to choose the means for upholding its own security but without prejudice to the security interests of other states. Last October during Russia's presidency of do we have the interpreter?

[00:11:50]interpretation is here.

[00:11:52]>> Good.

[00:11:56]>> Last October during Russia's presidency of the security council, a presidential statement was adopted marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. It is important that in this document the membership of the security council reach consensus and unity on the need to uphold the purposes and the principles of the United Nations charters in their entirety as well as to ensure comprehensive response to threats to international peace and security which must incorporate eradicating the root causes of international conflict.

[00:12:27]In order to surmount the crisis of trust in the United Nations, there is a need to reach agreement in good faith and to ensure interational agreements are enforced and that the United Nations system is tailored to reflect the shifting realities under the leadership of member states. And this is precisely why the UN80 reform initiative needs to be carried out under full state oversight and fully in accordance with the resolutions and decisions of United Nations bodies. It is vitally important to see to it that the prerogatives of the security council are not cast into doubt and for for it is indeed the United Nations Security Council which under the charter prayers the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international business security. We trust that with the election of the sec new secretary general this year the United Nations will be reinvigorated.

[00:13:17]For far too long, it has been sidelined on matters related to eradicating root causes of conflict, rebuilding trust between member states, and objective efforts to resolve the most urgent crisis situations. In order for the United Nations to be able to effectively deliver upon its potential secretary, it must unswervingly comply with article 100 of the charter on compliance with the principle of in neutrality and the exclusively international nature of obligations without any qualifications.

[00:13:46]We invite interested partners to engage in a frank discussion with assiduous efforts undertaken in the interest of the prosperity of a prosperity of all humankind.