"After they declared victory in the Cold War and the so-called End of History, the US and the EU have opted to expand the geopolitical area that is under their control without taking into account the balance of legitimate interests of all people of Europe. The western partners did not heed our numerous warnings of the inadmissibility of violating the principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. Time and again, they have avoided serious joint work to establish a common space of equal and indivisible security and cooperation, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
"The Russian proposal to draft the European Security Treaty was rejected. We were told directly that the legally binding guarantees of security are only meant for the members of the North Atlantic Alliance, and at this time they continue to expand to the East in spite of the promises that were given to the contrary. The instantaneous switch of NATO to hostile rhetoric, to the drawdown of its cooperation with Russia even to the detriment of the West's own interests, and the buildup of military infrastructure on Russia's borders reveal the inability of the alliance to change its genetic code which it created during the Cold War.
"The US and the EU supported the coup d'etat in Ukraine and reverted to outright justification of any acts by the self-proclaimed Kiev authorities that opted for suppression by force of the part of the Ukraine people which had rejected attempts to impose throughout the country an anti-constitutional order and wanted to defend its right to its native language, culture, and history. It is precisely the aggressive assault on these rights that helped the population of Crimea to take its destiny in its own hands and make a choice in favor of self-determination.
"This was an absolutely free choice, no matter what was invented by those who are primarily responsible for the internal conflict in Ukraine. General attempts to distort the truth and hide facts behind blanket accusations have been undertaken at all stages of the Ukrainian crisis. Nothing has been done to try to hold to account those responsible for the bloody February events at Maidan, and the massive loss of human life in Odessa, Mariupol, and other regions of Ukraine. The scale of appalling humanitarian disaster provoked by the acts of the Ukrainian army in Southeastern Ukraine has been deliberately underscored.
"Recently, new horrifying facts have been brought to light, when mass graves were discovered in the suburbs of Donetsk. Despite UN Security Council Resolution 2166, a thorough and independent investigation of the circumstance of the loss of the Malaysian airliner over the territory of the Ukraine has been drawn out. The perpetrators of all these crimes must be identified and brought to justice, otherwise it will be difficult to count on national reconciliation occurring in Ukraine.
"Russia is sincerely interested in the restoration of peace in this neighboring country, and this should be well understood by all who are slightly acquainted with the history of the deep-rooted and fraternal ties between these two peoples. The way towards political settlement is well known. Last April, Kiev already took upon itself an obligation in the Geneva Declaration of Russia, Ukraine, the US, and EU to immediately begin a broad national dialogue with the participation of all regions and political forces in Ukraine, with a view to carrying out constitutional reform. The implementation of this obligation would allow all Ukrainians to agree on how to live in accordance with their traditions and culture, and would enable Ukraine to restore its organic role as a binding link between the various parts of the European space, which naturally implies the preservation and respect by all of its neutral and non-block status.
"We are convinced that with goodwill and the refusal to support the party of war in Kiev which is trying to push the Ukrainian people into the abyss of national catastrophe, a way out of the crisis is within our reach. The way to overcome a crisis has been opened with the achievement of the ceasefire agreement in Southeastern Ukraine on the basis of initiatives by Presidents Poroshenko and Putin. With the participation of their representatives of Kiev, Donetsk, Lugansk, as well as the OSCE and Russia, practical measures are being agreed upon for the successive implementation of those agreements, including the separation of the parties to the conflict, the removal of heavy weapons of Ukraine and militia forces, and the setting up of monitoring through the OSCE.
"Russia is prepared to continue to actively promote the political settlement under the well known Minsk process as well as other formats. However, it should be crystal clear that we are doing this for the sake of peace, tranquility, and the well-being of the Ukrainian people -- rather than to appease someone's ambitions. Attempts to put pressure on Russia and to compel it to abandon its values, truth, and justice have no prospects whatsoever for success.
"Allow me to recall some history from not so long ago. As a condition for establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1933, the US government demanded of Moscow guarantees of non-interference into the domestic affairs of the United States and obligations not to take any actions with a view to changing the political or social order in America. At that time, Washington feared a revolutionary virus, and those guarantees were put on record. And this was the basis for, of course, reciprocity between the US and the Soviet Union. Perhaps it makes sense to return to this topic and reproduce the demands of that time of the US government -- on a universal scale.
"Why would the General Assembly not adopt a declaration on the inadmissibility of interference into the internal affairs of sovereign states and the non-recognition of a coup d'etat as the method for the change of power? The time has come to completely exclude from international interactions attempts to exert illegitimate pressure by some states on others. The senselessness and counter-productive nature of unilateral sanctions is obvious if we look at the example of the US blockade on Cuba.
"The policy of ultimatums and the philosophy of supremacy and domination do not meet the requirements of the 21st century, and run counter to the objective process of developing a polycentric and democratic world order.
"Russia is promoting a positive and unifying agenda. We always were, and continue to be, open to discussion of the most complex issues no matter how unresolvable they may seem to be in the beginning. We will be prepared to search for compromises and a balance of interests, and even to exchange concessions, but only if the discussion will be truly respectful and equitable. The Minsk agreements of 5 and 19 September, on the way out of the Ukrainian crisis, and the compromise on the timeline of the agreement between Kiev and the EU are good examples to follow as is the declaration, finally, of the readiness of Brussels to begin negotiations on the establishment of a free-trade agreement between the European Union and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan as had been proposed by President Putin back in January of this year.
"Russia has consistently called for the harmonization of integration projects in Europe and Eurasia. The political on political benchmarks and timelines of such a convergence of integrations would make a real contribution to the work of the OSCE on the topic of Helsinki Plus 40.
"Another crucial area of this work would be to launch a pragmatic discussion, free from ideology, about the political and military architecture of the Euro-Atlantic region, so that not only members of NATO but all countries of the region including Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia would experience equal and indivisible security, and would not have to make a false choice of 'either with us, or against us'. New dividing lines in Europe must not be allowed, even more so because in the era of globalization those lines can turn into a watershed divide between the West and the rest of the world.
"It should be stated honestly that no one has a monopoly on truth and no one is now capable of tailoring global and regional processes to their own needs. There is no alternative today to the development of consensus regarding the rules of sustainable governance and new historical circumstances with full respect of the cultural and civilizational diversity of the world, and a multiplicity of models of development. It will be a difficult and perhaps a tiresome task to achieve such a consensus on every issue, but the recognition of the fact that democracy in every state is the worst form of government except for all the others also took time to break its way through, until Churchill proclaimed his verdict.
"The time has come to realize the inevitability of this fundamental truth in international affairs, where today there is a huge deficit of democracy. Of course, some will have to shatter centuries-old ideas and abandon claims to eternal uniqueness, but there is no other way forward. Joint efforts can only be built on the principle of mutual respect and taking into account one another's interests, as is the case for example in the framers of the United Nations Security Council, the G20, BRICS, and the SCO.
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