H.E. Mr. Yuriy Filatov:

I do not think that the UN Security Council can produce a more positive impact on the situation, other than what we have planned - the meeting on the Minsk agreement. We have to recognise it as a fact. That is certainly shared by many within the council – by the US and others - that it has to be implemented. The issue is how to go about that. That is a job for diplomats to do. That is the most practical way we could use the council's resource and political clout to provide an impetus in this direction. As I mentioned in my opening statement, it all boils down to 2014. If, at that point, there was not a mistake made by the UN and the US - that was a colossal blunder and a strategic mistake to support this violent overthrow and access to power by radical elements – we would not be discussing it today. Everything would be fine for Ukraine, more or less. The Minsk agreements were the only way out at that point in time, which provided a framework to get the two sides in Ukraine together – the government and what they call separatists. These people in the east simply did not recognise what happened in Kyiv. They did not like that, and they did not want anything to do with that. It would take serious, sensible dialogue with them to settle things within Ukraine. Unfortunately, that was not on the cards and that is the still the issue. If only the western guarantors of the agreement, namely, France and Germany, would employ all their political pressure, we could see a good outcome.

That brings up a very interesting point about the sovereignty of Ukraine. Literally speaking, it is a sovereign, independent state, but in reality it has become a highly questionable proposition. It is abundantly clear that the current government of the country is accountable not to its own people but mainly to Washington and other capitals upon which it depends, in terms of political, financial and economic assistance. It looks like a very profitable proposition. I heard just the other day the President of the European Commission announcing another €1.2 billion of assistance to Ukraine. That is good. I would be happy if it reaches the people in Ukraine, but I am not sure about that. That is just a footnote to that.

On the question of Belarus, I reiterate that we support the agreement. As was said about Ukraine, it all goes back to Belarus - the independence, sovereignty and integrity of Belarus, including the integrity of the society. There has been lots of turmoil. They have come through that dramatic period. I hope that our dialogue with Minsk, which is not entirely public, will help to calm things down and will play to the overall improvement of the political and economic situation there.

I will stop at this point.