As you know, I represented the Secretary-General at the meeting. You have all seen the statement by the Secretary-General and seen my own, heard my own statement at the Council. I think it speaks for itself.
In the closed session I underlined the importance of calm, restraint, the importance of serious dialogue, both inside and outside Ukraine. And I underlined very strongly the UN Charter obligations – Chapter I – Principles, Purposes; Chapter VI – Pacific Settlement of Disputes, and the importance in this situation to do everything to de-escalate the situation to make possible to live up to these Charter obligations.
I will report to the Secretary-General the contents of this discussion and he will meet with Robert Serry tomorrow morning, and discuss further steps. He will also discuss with me and colleagues in New York and his colleagues who are with him during this visit to Geneva the next steps.
We have heard proposals from Member States related to mediation, related to monitoring, diplomatic initiatives and I know the Secretary-General takes this extremely seriously. I just finished a conversation with him now, before he entered the plane to go to Europe, and we will act as soon as possible, and we expect that everyone now will do what they can to diffuse this very difficult and very dangerous situation.
Q: [Question on Deputy Secretary-General’s advice for diplomats and governments involved in Ukraine crisis]
DSG: The reason we meet is that we see negative signs, serious signs, risks of escalation, both on the ground and, I would say, verbally. There has to be a de-escalation, both physically and in terms of political language. There are some positive signs. There are calls for dialogue from all quarters. There are also intentions stated by authorities in Ukraine to have inclusive government with also representatives from eastern Ukraine, so we hope, as I said, that cool heads will prevail. That is what we all need to think of now. It is a very, very important responsibility, for all concerned, both inside and outside Ukraine.
Q: [Question on Robert Serry, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor]
DSG: Mr. Serry acts in the spirit of the Charter, acts with the impartiality that is attached to anyone in the mission of his style. He’s not involved in mediation at this stage. He’s a go-between, and he’s sending the message of restraint and calm and dialogue. If we can play a role, a more ambitious role in the area of mediation and monitoring, we will do so.
We very much hope that he will be able to go [to Crimea]. I can tell you that the decision to not go today was taken in coordination, after contacts with the authorities in Crimea, and the reason he didn’t go was purely logistical.
Q: [Question on the Secretary-General’s telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin]
DSG: I have been in the Council up until this moment and we did not go into the detail of his conversation with President Putin. You probably know better than I whether there was a readout. In that case, stick to the readout, not to my speculation.
Q: [Question on the substance of the conversation between the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General]
I talked to him about what happened in the Security Council before he got on the plane.
Thank you very much.