Peace and Security

Saidi al Raiis,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
As salam alaikum.
 
I thank the Government of Kuwait for convening this discussion on “Issues of Priority to the League of Arab States and outcomes of the Arab Summit.”
 
I want to express my warm welcome to Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.  We have been working together on many of the most difficult dossiers    that our two organizations confront, and it is for me an enormous pleasure to see you sitting in the Security Council.
 

I thank Kuwait and His Excellency, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, for this opportunity to brief the Council.
 
I welcome the representatives of The Elders, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former President Mary Robinson. I also see in front of me the former President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos.  I welcome them in this chamber today, and thank them for contributing their personal wisdom and support to the debate.
 

First of all, thank you very much for your kind invitation. It was for me an enormous pleasure to come again to the St. Petersburg Forum.
 
It is for me a very important opportunity to address the distinguished international audience, governments, business, societies in general on issues that are vital for the United Nations and in particular, in this Forum’s context, the Sustainable Development Goals and the possibility of a fair globalization.
 

President Putin, Heads of State and Government,
Ladies and Gentlemen, all protocol observed,
 
I am very pleased to be making my second visit to this prestigious forum as Secretary-General of the United Nations.  And I thank President Putin and the people of the Russian Federation for hosting this dynamic gathering.
 
St. Petersburg was home to many of the seminal events that marked the 20th century.
 

Su Majestad, Señoras y Señores, 
En primer lugar, quiero dar las gracias a Su Majestad el Rey Felipe VI de España por su presencia aquí hoy y sus amables palabras; significan mucho para mí.

I thank the Government of Indonesia for convening this open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
 
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, a cornerstone of international humanitarian law.  And it is with enormous please that I see with us Mr. Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of these Conventions.