Statement by the Republic of Slovenia at the UNSC meeting on the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine

I wish to begin, Mr. President, by thanking USG Fletcher for his briefing.

I also wish to thank him and all of his colleagues, particularly those who work tirelessly on the ground in the most difficult of circumstances.

Mr. President,

We are in the third consecutive year of unabated devastation of a sovereign country. After tens of thousands of civilians dead or injured, and after the destruction of civilian infrastructure that will take hundreds of billions of dollars to reconstruct, Russia’s aggression is not diminishing in the slightest.

The attack on Kryvyi Rih last Friday is a case in point. What seems to have been a missile, carrying a cluster munitions warhead, sprayed shrapnel across a dense residential area, including a playground. Twenty lives were lost in a heartbeat. Half of them were children. This makes the Friday attack the deadliest single strike harming children since the war began.

We heard claims that a high-precision strike has been launched, to target a military group that was meeting at a restaurant at the time, trying to justify it as a military target. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights already disproved this account, stating that all witnesses conveyed that there had been no military presence in the area at the time.

I echo USG Fletcher in underlining that even in the time of war, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected.

Attacks against civilians and civilian objects are a clear violation of international law, in particular IHL, and must not go unpunished. All those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held accountable.

Mr. President,

We need peace in Ukraine. Attacks like the one in Kryvyi Rih, are not only causing death and suffering among civilians, but are contravening the ongoing peace efforts.

Slovenia remains hopeful that the US-led initiative will produce results. Effective moratoriums on energy infrastructure strikes and a truce in the Black sea might be the necessary first steps in this regard. However, more than ever we need a verifiable and lasting ceasefire that will pave the way to negotiations on enduring peace in Ukraine. Ukraine has already made the first step with agreeing to a full ceasefire and we call on Russia to follow suit.

Mr. President,

Slovenia will continue to advocate for peace, just as it has done since the beginning of the aggression. We will continue working in this Council, and elsewhere, towards a just and lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia in line with the UN Charter.

I thank you, Mr. President.

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