Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Pedro Luis Pedroso Cuesta, reaffirmed Cuba's official position on the situation in Ukraine during the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly yesterday in New York.
The diplomat returned to the main arguments put forward by the revolutionary government in a statement released February 26, advocating a solution that guarantees the security and sovereignty of all and addresses legitimate humanitarian concerns.
Pedroso's statement, published on the Cuban Foreign Ministry's website, describe the situation caused by U.S. insistence on NATO's expansion to the Russian Federation’s borders, leading to events that could have been avoided.
He recalled that Cuba is a country which defends international law and is committed to the United Nations Charter, which will always defend peace and oppose the use of force against any state, and threats to do so. He stated that Cubans are deeply saddened by the loss of innocent civilian lives in Ukraine.
"The Cuban people have had, and continue to have a close relationship with the Ukrainian people," he said.
He insisted that history will hold the U.S. government accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine that threatens international peace, security and stability.
"Russia has the right to defend itself. It is not possible to achieve peace by encircling or corraling states," he emphasized.
He likewise noted that the draft resolution on the situation in Ukraine, which the Security Council considered but did not adopt on February 25, was not intended as a real contribution to finding a solution to the current crisis.
"The text under consideration by this General Assembly suffers from the same shortcomings and lack of necessary balance. It does not take into account the legitimate concerns of all parties involved. Nor does it recognize the responsibility of those who instigated and deployed aggressive actions that precipitated the escalation of this conflict," he stated during the debate.
Ambassador Pedroso noted that Cuba welcomes the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, since this is the only way to resolve the conflict. Our nation, he said, will continue to advocate for a serious, constructive and realistic diplomatic solution to the current crisis in Europe, achieved through peaceful means, to ensure the security and sovereignty of all, regional and international stability and security.
