Foreign Ministry statement in connection with the UN Security Council approving a resolution on the creation of a UN Mission in Colombia
On January 25, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2261 to set up a special political UN mission in Colombia as an international component to support the peace process in the Republic of Colombia. Russia took an active part in drafting the resolution as a co-author.
Moscow is closely following the negotiations in Havana between the Colombian government and a rebel group, The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), designed to put an end to the country’s 50-year-old armed conflict. We have repeatedly come out in support of an intra-Colombian dialogue and the Colombians’ aspiration to bring lasting peace to their land.
We therefore note the crucial importance of the agreement the sides signed on September 23, 2015, to set a deadline for reaching final peace understandings, and that of their joint communique issued on January 19, 2016, to request international support for the peace process, including by setting up a UN mission, something that was ensured by the approval of the said Security Council resolution.
We also appreciate the active contribution to the negotiating process made by the guarantor countries, Cuba and Norway, and the observer nations, Venezuela and Chile. We emphasise Cuba’s role in developing mutually acceptable solutions to difficult problems facing the parties.
We proceed from the assumption that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will respond positively to the sides’ request to send unarmed observers to the UN mission in Colombia.
We are confident that the agreements between the Colombian government and FARC as well as the new UN Security Council Resolution will become important landmarks on the way to peace in Colombia and allow the sides to reach and responsibly implement a final settlement to the conflict.
As a permanent UN Security Council member, Russia is ready to offer the necessary political assistance to the peace processes and contribute to successful implementation of post-conflict reforms in Colombia, a friendly country that has a long history of mutually advantageous and productive cooperation with Russia.
January 26, 2016
