The issue of arms supplies to Ukraine was taken up again at the Security Council, putting on display divisions among briefers and Council members, with some contending that the unchecked flow of weapons dragged out the conflict, and many others defending Kyiv’s legitimate right to defend itself against the Russian Federation’s ongoing war of aggression.
Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said that transfers of weapons systems and ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces had expanded in recent months, in the context of the full-scale invasion of that country. “Large-scale influx of weapons and ammunition into any armed conflict situation raises significant concerns for peace, security and stability, including due to diversion and proliferation risks,” he observed.
Measures to address such risks, including enhanced marking practices, comprehensive pre-transfer diversion risk assessments and end-user certificates, are essential for preventing further instability and insecurity in Ukraine and beyond, he continued. To this end, he cited key arms control instruments such as the UN Register of Conventional Arms and the Arms Trade Treaty and looked forward to the General Assembly’s endorsement of a new Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management, and its subsequent operationalization.
Garland Nixon, a political analyst and journalist, pointed out that, since February 2022, the United States Government has injected over $100 billion in arms and assistance to the conflict, including many handheld weapons with incredible destructive capabilities. Some of these armaments could easily take down a civilian passenger aircraft or be used with devastating effect on a convoy of civilian vehicles, as the ones that many diplomats in the Council chamber routinely use to cross their respective nations. “The injection of these military grade weapons into an environment as unstable as Ukraine is beyond irresponsible,” he stressed. Western countries must stop contributing to the influx of arms, he said, warning of dire consequences if such powerful weapons landed in the hands of criminal elements in Europe and beyond. “In the instance of the European Union, it may end up being suicidal for many of its citizens.”
In the ensuing debate, many Council members voiced concern over the mounting toll of the war on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as its fallout beyond the country’s borders. Speakers, however, varied in their emphasis on how the conflict should end: through de-escalation, diplomacy, or the withdrawal of Russian troops.
The Russian Federation’s delegate criticized Western countries for hypocritically calling for the conflict to end, while pumping Ukraine with weapons. “I underscore Russia is countering not the Ukrainian army, whose resources are almost depleted, but the collective military machine of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and the military-industrial complex,” he stressed. Pointing to emerging evidence that control over arms flowing into Ukraine is weak or non-existent, with high levels of corruption surrounding military supplies, he cited a recent statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that such weapons appeared on his country’s borders this summer. While weapons manufacturing companies profited from this scenario, “Ukrainians are the pawns in this geopolitical game,” he added.
The United States’ delegate, however, countered that the Russian Federation’s convening of today’s meeting on the prolonged war in Ukraine was “farcical”: Moscow could end the war “by simply withdrawing its troops”. It is “the height of hypocrisy” for a permanent Council member, which invaded another Member State in violation of the United Nations Charter, to raise questions about that State’s inherent right to self-defence upheld by the Charter. In fact, it is the Russian Federation’s continued weapons procurement from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran, in violation of relevant Council resolutions, that posed “the real threats to international peace and security this Council should be discussing”, he stressed.
In a similar vein, the United Kingdom’s representative stressed that international assistance to Ukraine, including by his country, is not what is prolonging the war, which has already caused immense human suffering. However, the Russian Federation’s procurement of arms from heavily sanctioned States such as Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea poses a serious risk to international peace and security and violates multiple Council resolutions, for which Moscow itself voted....
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15439.doc.htm
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