I would like to thank you, Madam President, and our briefers.
Throughout my years of public service, I have encouraged women to use the power of their voice. I have been inspired by my mother, who went to law
school and was offered a judgeship in India but was unable to take the bench, owing to th…
I congratulate Sweden on its presidency and I thank the Russian delegation for its leadership in June. I want to thank the Prime Minister of Sweden for convening this very important debate. I thank Ms. Fore and Ms. Gamba for their leadership. Ms. Londoño’s story is inspiring. I welcome her to the cl…
I congratulate the Russian Federation on assuming the presidency of the Security Council for the month of June. I want to thank the Polish Mission for what it did last to help make everything go smoothly. Before I get started, I would like to clarify for my Kuwaiti colleague that they did not take i…
What would members of the Security Council say if they were sitting across the table from a rape survivor in a protection-of-civilians site? What would they say to the countless women who had to witness their own husbands and children being shot right in front of them? What would they say to the two…
I would like to thank the briefers for their statements. I especially want to express our gratitude to Mr. Kubiš, for his three years of service in leading the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) through what has been a very challenging period.
Just three years ago, Iraq was in a ver…
I thank Special Coordinator Mladenov for his briefing.
The United States called this meeting today to talk about the dangerous and destructive activities of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. One might think that the rest of the Security Council would join us in condemning a terror…
Two weeks ago, the President of Poland convened a very important debate in the Security Council (see S/PV.8262) on upholding international law. Many of us talked about the purposes and goals of the United Nations. It was an opportunity to ask ourselves why we are here and what we hope to accomplish.…
I would like to thank Special Representative Salamé and the Ambassador of Sweden for their briefings. The United States stands fully behind the efforts to help to bring peace to Libya.
The Libyan people have waited more than seven years for a better future. After rising up against one of the world’…
I thank you, President Duda, for organizing today’s important debate. It is not often that we take time to think deeply about why we are here and what we want to accomplish, and I therefore appreciate this opportunity. I would like to welcome Judge Owada, thank him for his briefing and express my de…
Today’s meeting was called to discuss the issue of violence in the Middle East. We are all concerned about violence in the Middle East. The United States deplores the loss of human life. But there is a lot of violence throughout the region, and I will note that the double standard is all too common …
I congratulate you once again, Madam President, on your presidency. I thank our colleagues from Kuwait, the United Kingdom and Peru for their work in arranging the visit. I also thank the Governments of Kuwait, Bangladesh and Burma for hosting the Security Council.
It was absolutely critical for th…
I have spoken many times about my strong belief that this monthly debate should be used to shed light on the many different sources of conflict and instability in the Middle East. There are, unfortunately, many to choose from, some of which prompt disagreement in the Security Council. But today, I w…
I believe we all sit here today with a heavy heart because we have lost our brother and friend. Mr. Tanoh-Boutchoue was kind and caring. He always had a smile on his face and his laughter was contagious. I do not know how we come to terms with the fact that we lost him so soon. I have no doubt that …
I thank High Representative Nakamitsu for her briefing. I thank my British colleague for keeping the Security Council updated.
Last week, the Council met five times to discuss the chemical weapons attack in Douma. Today we are here yet again to talk about chemical weapons. This time it is about a m…
I thank Mr. Lowcock for his briefing.
The delegation of the United States welcomes Special Envoy Griffiths to the Council. He has taken on one of the world’s most difficult diplomatic assignments and we thank him for it. The United States fully supports his efforts to find a political solution to t…
I thank the Secretary-General for his briefing today.
This is the fifth Security Council meeting in the past week in which we have addressed the situation in Syria. A week has gone by in which we have talked. We have talked about the victims in Douma. We have talked about the Al-Assad regime and it…
I started to listen to my Russian friend so as to respond to him, but instead I am truly in awe of his ability to say what he said with a straight face.
Today’s meeting of the Security Council has been convened under truly strange circumstances. The Russian Federation has asked us to discuss what i…
I thank you, Sir, and members of the Security Council for what has been another frustrating day. My parents always said that you should always see the good in everyone and in everything. I have therefore been trying to figure out what the good is in Russia. I believe that it is very good at being co…
Yesterday I said that history will record this moment (see S/PV.8225) as one when we as the Security Council either lived up to our responsibilities or showed our complete failure to protect the Syrian people. Today we have our answer. The votes have been cast. The record will show that today some c…
We have reached a decisive moment as the Security Council. On Saturday the first haunting images appeared from Douma, in Syria. We gathered around this table yesterday (see S/PV.8225) to express our collective outrage. We then collectively agreed that the Council needed to take steps to determine ex…
