Ukrainian authorities: Refusing to contact Russia is 'a mistake'

The meeting room of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: Ria Novosti

Elizabeth Yasko, Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said it is necessary to maintain dialogue with Russia.

The move contrasts with earlier statements from Ukraine about refusing to participate in the General Assembly session due to the return of the Russian delegation, and the calls for the restoration of the G8 are a sign that Western countries are ready to soften Ukraine's stance.

According to Ms. Yasko, refusing to contact Moscow is "a wrong decision". "We cannot ignore Russia. We must protect the interests of the country and be aware of what is going on" - the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly affirmed.

Responding to a question about refusing to attend the 74th session of the General Assembly, Ms. Yasko said that this was the way the Ukrainian delegation showed consistency with previous times, because "otherwise, the Ukrainian delegation would become part of an unjust process, agreeing to Russia's return."

In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, the Russian delegation was stripped of its right to attend UN General Assembly sessions. In response, since 2017, Russia has "frozen" all contributions to the General Assembly budget.

In June 2019, the UN General Assembly restored full rights and invited the Russian delegation to return to its sessions, but Ukraine has expressed opposing views and frequently protested.

The Ukrainian delegation submitted hundreds of proposals to amend the draft resolution inviting Russia to return, but Kiev's initiatives did not receive support from the entire General Assembly.

Earlier, when the Ukrainian delegation announced that it would not attend the General Assembly session, the organization stated that Ukraine had the responsibility to send a delegation to attend, and called on members from the Council of Europe to hold broad consultations on inviting Russia to unconditionally return to the UN General Assembly, demonstrating the role of the Council of Europe countries in implementing the constitution and international law.

Tini Kocs, head of a group of politicians at the General Assembly, said that all member states have a responsibility to participate in the organization's activities according to the Council of Europe's rules and the resolution "on the role and tasks of the General Assembly." Therefore, according to Kocs, Russia has a responsibility to send a delegation to the General Assembly session, similar to Ukraine.

"The European Council and the United Nations General Assembly are not coffee shops where we can choose what we want to do," said Tini Kocs.