We urge Russia to translate its apparent concern for critical infrastructure into action by ceasing attacks in Ukraine: UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by UK Political Coordinator Fergus Eckersley at the UN Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to our briefers. I can be quick because we have had this debate many times in the Chamber before. As we have said several times, the UK unequivocally condemns acts of sabotage on critical national infrastructure, and we take the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines extremely seriously.
I would like to make three quick points about how the Council can best address this.
First, we continue to believe that the best way to establish what happened and who was responsible is for Council members to support Germany’s ongoing national investigation.
We recognise that this investigation will take time due to its complexity, and we have every confidence that it is being conducted with impartiality, integrity, transparency and in line with the rule of law.
We do not believe that it is a good use of our time for the Security Council to try to prejudge the outcome of this ongoing investigation, dictate how the investigation is conducted or seek to politicise the issue. And we should avoid engaging in baseless and unhelpful speculation.
Second, I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to all those involved in the national investigations conducted by Denmark and Sweden. We welcome the updates sent to the Council in February outlining their findings and we respect the decision to conclude their investigations.
And third, we note that Russia has consistently called Council meetings on this and vocally condemned attacks on critical national infrastructure. Yet Russia is, at the same time, deliberately and systematically targeting Ukraine’s energy system and attacking its critical infrastructure.
Just this month as one example, Russia launched 82 missiles and drones destroying the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant. Trypilska was one of Ukraine’s largest power-generating facilities and a critical energy asset for the Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr oblasts.
So, we urge Russia to translate its apparent concern for protecting critical infrastructure into action by immediately ceasing such attacks and ending its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
Thank you.