The Uruguayan foreign minister described the invasion of Ukraine by Russia as “unjustifiable” before the UN General Assembly and indicated that his country condemned it “in the strongest terms” as “a clear violation of the principles on which we have built this Organization and that must be respected by all its members”.
Francisco Bustillo Bustillo called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory “as soon as possible” and that the parties must make an effort to return to the negotiating table to resolve their differences peacefully, as stipulated in the United Nations Charter.
“Meanwhile, the negative effects of the armed conflict are being felt on multiple aspects of the international reality and weigh more and more on the daily lives of millions of people,” he stressed.
He affirmed that the impact of the war on international trade “feeds the recessive tendencies” of multiple nations, that the deficit of agricultural products “seriously” affects less developed importing countries and that the lack of access to world markets generates food insecurity in various regions of the world.
All nations must respect their climate commitments
In terms of climate, he considered that the results of the UN Climate Summit held last November in Glasgow did not meet expectations, despite reaching some unofficial results, and that countries should not give up the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels.
The Uruguayan foreign minister indicated that the discussions that took place in the Scottish city will have “new instances of debate in the near future”, that he hopes that all nations respect the high levels of climate ambition, and the fulfillment of the promise to mobilize financial resources in favor of adaptation and mitigation measures against climate change”.
“Otherwise, the international community will have missed another opportunity. Perhaps the last to face one of its greatest threats. Should this effort be frustrated, future generations will have the legitimate right to say that we, who have governed in this centurywe have not lived up to our political responsibilities”, he indicated.
In addition, he considered that after the outbreak of COVID-19 two years ago, the coronavirus continues to leave a historical loss of human lives with serious consequences for the populations and multiple damages for the economies, causing greater instability in the international situation.
He went on to explain that the international community faces three major challenges: “international peace and security, the environment and global health”, and stressed that the multilateral system is essential to address them “not only as an inspiring principle but also as a key tool for our efforts to be effective”.
Similarly, he ratified his country’s commitment to multilateralism.
Bustillo affirmed that this year should represent a milestone for the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals “moving from rhetoric to the realization of goals”.
He reiterated his country’s commitment to the human rights agenda and the fight against organized crime, renewed his support for the United Nations peacekeeping missions and his support for the Organization’s disarmament agenda.
