Skip to content

24.01.2025 Statement by Denmark at the Arria-formular meeting on Ukraine

Who Mr. Emil Hother Paulsen, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations 
Who Mr. Emil Hother Paulsen, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations 
When 24.01.2025

Checked Against Delivery

 

Thank you Chair,

Adherence to international humanitarian law, including the Third Geneva Convention, by armed forces in conflict is a crucial matter. It must be fully respected. And it deserves a serious and impartial discussion.

 

Regrettably, this meeting is neither. It is another deliberate and cynical attempt to deflect attention from the atrocities Russia is committing in its unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.

 

With this in mind, allow me to underscore a few points.

 

First, let us recall that there is one clear aggressor, the Russian Federation, and one clear victim, Ukraine.

It is hard to ignore the hypocrisy of today’s briefing. Let me draw attention to Russia’s missile attacks on civilians and on the city hospital in Selydove on 20 November 2023 and on 14 February 2024, which resulted in civilian fatalities. Regrettably, there are many other such instances.

As a whole, 2024 saw a deeply disturbing rise in the toll of civilian causalities in Ukraine. The total number of civilians killed and injured rose with a staggering 30 percent compared to 2023, including a particularly distressing surge in child casualties.

 

Chair,

 

We reject the false equivalence that Russia is trying to make. Russia and Ukraine are not one and the same. While all parties must adhere to international humanitarian law, Russia has a particular damning record in the conduct of its illegal aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine has permitted independent access to the sites of Russian atrocities in the territory it has liberated. And Ukraine has ratified the Rome Statute.

 

The same cannot be said for Russia.

 

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that Russia has repeatedly violated international human rights law and IHL. Russia has also repeatedly attempted to destroy the evidence of war crimes.

The awful truth continues to come to light through the brave testimonies of survivors, and the work of Ukrainian NGOs, judicial authorities, and independent media. The international community cannot – and Denmark will not – look away.

 

Chair,

 

Accountability is paramount. We must seek justice for the victims. Justice requires that those responsible for war crimes and atrocities be held to account.

In this regard, we support the International Criminal Court. We also support efforts to establish a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

 

To conclude, Denmark will continue to support Ukraine’s right to defend its people and territory in line with international law, including the UN Charter.

Russia bears full responsibility for this senseless war. We must reject Russia’s false narratives and hold it to account for its own atrocities.

 

Thank you.