London, 31 July 2023
Statement by UK Political Coordinator Fergus Eckersley at the UN Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Colleagues, over a hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud came up with the psychological concept called projection. It involves denying negative characteristics and behaviours of your own self and falsely attributing them to others.
It is often done deliberately, as part of a strategy of blame-shifting, or it can be indicative of various types of dysfunction.
Colleagues, Russia’s claim that it is Ukrainian aggression that is in any way responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine is absurd. It is a projection of the behaviour of the Russian state itself.
There is only one aggressor in this war. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of Russian troops invading that sovereign country, illegally and unprovoked. We all know that the right to self-defence in those circumstances is enshrined in the UN Charter.
Russia has carried out relentless attacks on civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, hospitals, and, as we saw last week, places of worship. Russian forces are responsible for horrific atrocities on the ground.
It is Russia that has been condemned by the Secretary-General for committing grave violations against children.
It is Russia that made the unilateral decision to end the Black Sea Grain Initiative, despite widespread calls from the international community, including the Pope and the leaders of the African Union, for Russia to renew the deal.
And it is Russia that is sending thousands of its own young men to their deaths. Estimates suggest that more than 200,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in Ukraine.
Russia is inflicting terror on the Ukrainian people, and in parallel, it is inflicting suffering on its own population, and millions across the world.
In the face of this, Ukraine has had no choice but to exercise its UN Charter right to defend itself. It is fighting a war of national survival, and defending the right of all nations to live without fear of aggression.
The only path to a sustainable peace in Ukraine is for President Putin to end his illegal invasion, withdraw his troops and thereby demonstrate that he is prepared to engage on terms for peace that respect the UN Charter.
Russia started this war, and Russia must end it before they cause any more suffering.