Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
We are grateful to our friends from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), especially the president, Mr Peter Maurer, for a very timely and fulfilling visit to Russia.
Interaction between Russia and the ICRC has traditionally been constructive. We recognise the high professionalism and depoliticised approach that distinguishes the committee in its efforts to facilitate and resolve various humanitarian crises. We give its employees credit for their contribution to alleviating the plight of civilians affected by conflicts and crises. For our part, we are involved in implementing ICRC projects. Today, we reiterated our commitment to continue to assist in implementing them. Primarily, we are talking about projects designed to improve the plight of civilians in crisis situations. Russia has been making annual contributions to the ICRC since 2018 for this purpose.
We discussed the situation in a number of the world’s regions. The Nagorno-Karabakh settlement has been topping that list this past week. Now, thanks to our efforts, including the deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, this process has entered a new stage in accordance with the November 9 agreements between the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents and the Armenian prime minister. I think a cessation of hostilities based on these agreements opens up additional opportunities for the ICRC, which operates in Armenia and Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh. Mr Maurer and his colleagues will discuss in more detail the corresponding aspects of their work in the region during their meetings at the Defence Ministry and the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief.
We believe that the ICRC is quite capable of playing an important and increasingly active part in overcoming the humanitarian consequences of the events in Nagorno-Karabakh. We are aware that the ICRC is assisting in the exchange of bodies and bringing home prisoners and other detainees, which is important if we want to restore normal relations between the people of different ethnicities and faiths.
We hope that other humanitarian agencies, primarily the UN, specifically, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will join in. Preserving cultural heritage is a challenge in Nagorno-Karabakh, and UNESCO could play a role here as well.
The ICRC has been present in the region for many years. The organisations that have not yet started working there could use its expertise. We operate on the premise that a strong and broad international presence in the region is in the interests of everyone in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Southeastern Ukraine was among the subjects of our discussions with our colleagues from the ICRC who provide the people of the region with significant amounts of humanitarian aid. With the ongoing blockade by Kiev, this aid, along with Russian humanitarian convoys, provides essentials to the residents there. This is a very important source of humanitarian aid. We also noted that the ICRC’s activities in Donbass are primarily carried out through its interest and willingness to deal directly with the leaders of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics when addressing specific matters.
To be continued…
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