Dmitry Polyanskiy, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Great Lakes region at UN world headquarters in New York Oct. 3, 2019 (UN Photo Laura Jarriel)

By  Gary  Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS    –   NEW  YORK  –   Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations said that after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, the following decade was difficult for the newly independent nation and it was on the brink of collapse.  “But then at the beginning of the 2000s, we gradually started to get up on our knees then on our feet. And the moment we kind of restored our national pride and our national capacity to live as independent states, the West and the United States started to perceive us as a threat. Now we have kind of a remake of the Cold War, Cold War 2.0.,”  Dmitry Polyanskiy, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations said this week. Ambassador Polyanskiy  made the comments at a year-end  press conference on Tuesday December 28 at UN world headquarters in New York. The Russian ambassador spoke on several issues including the situation in Ukraine, alleged mercenary activities in  west Africa nation Mali by a Russian outfit called the ‘Wagner Group’  and on Syria. The U.S. has threatened “harsh” economic sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine. 

U.S. and Russian officials are scheduled to hold bilateral security talks on January 10 amid mounting tensions over Ukraine

U.S. intelligence reports have assessed  Russia of amassing tens of thousands of  troops near the Ukraine border over the last few months  as preparation for a full-scale invasion in early 2022.  

“We didn’t come to NATO’s borders. It was NATO who came to us. This is why we have absolutely legitimate reasons to be worried about it.” 

–Dmitry Polyanskiy, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

The Russian UN ambassador said Moscow wants “serious guarantees”   that the western military alliance will not admit Ukraine into NATO.  The U.S. and NATO have refused such a request from Russia. 

“We were patient for quite a long time. You surely know this background story: after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Western leaders made oral promises and gave guarantees that NATO would not be expanding. There were even hopes that NATO would be transformed in some kind of a political organization. There were ideas of NATO merging with OSCE at some point, but those were only theories. In fact, NATO remained even despite the dissolution of Warsaw Pact. It’s difficult to call NATO a defense pact, because it was designed to counter the Warsaw Pact. Once the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist, there was no logic in NATO’s existence. And then, opposite to the logic that we promoted at the beginning of the 90s, there came the expansion of NATO, inclusion of new member states, and placement of serious ammunition and personnel at the eastern border of the Alliance, which is very close to our borders.”

– UN Ambassador Polyanskiy

Alleged Threats of Russia Invading Ukraine “Born in heads of Western Politicians” :  Ambassador Polyanskiy

“As for the alleged threats of Russia invading Ukraine, I think this problem can be solved very easily. It was born in the heads of some politicians; therefore it should die in the heads of those same politicians. It only takes a change of attitude, because there is nothing happening on the ground that would justify the position of Western politicians. Even the numbers of the troops vary greatly. We underline that this is our sovereign territory and we have the right to place and move our troops, conduct exercises. This is our right and we do not have to report to anyone about this. And despite all the allegations of this kind, there has been no significant military activity. So the answer is very simple. Just ask those who are promoting this news to calm down, and then the problem will go away as it was created.”

-Ambassador Polyanskiy

Deputy Permanent Representative of Russian Federation Dmitry Polyanskiy Briefs Press  at UN world headquarters in New York Dec. 28, 2021.  (UN Photo/Evan Schneider)

  UN Ambassador calls Russia Wagner Group Allegations “product of Imagination of our Western Colleagues”

This month,  the European Union imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organisation accused of committing human rights abuses in the Central African Republic and elsewhere, the BBC reported. 

“Western media find this story very sexy. I think it may be number two after Ukraine today. To a large extent, it’s a product of imagination of our Western colleagues. First and foremost, I personally and my colleagues do not have any information about “Wagner Group”. I don’t know whether it exists or not. Even if it does, it’s not part of our official toolbox. I assume it might be some private military company. There is a market for such companies with tens or even hundreds of military companies acting abroad and providing their services in the same way as the commodities are being provided. You can approve or disapprove of this kind of business, but everybody’s engaged in it, including our British, American and French colleagues. It’s enough to mention some of US mercenaries involved in operations in Venezuela. Some of them were caught, and that’s how this whole story of American private military companies acting in Venezuela came to light. Also, I don’t remember the exact name of the company, but there were a lot of problems with US private military companies acting in Iraq, for example.”

-Russia UN Ambassador Polyanskiy said, making reference to  Blackwater USA, a controversial private military  company  some claim was a mercenary force operating  in Iraq and Afghanistan  

The Russian envoy stressed the alleged involvement of Wagner Group  has nothing to do with any officials in Russia. He maintained it is not supported by the state.   “I don’t see any reasons why Malian government can’t take their sovereign decision to engage with this military company or with a company from another country,”  Ambassador  Polyanskiy said.    “There are a lot of military groups and terrorists who came to the Sahel, and they are terrorizing all the Sahel states. Mali may be the main and most threatened victim among all the Sahel countries. We think that we should really render our support to Malian state in this regard. This is a totally different story from what is alleged about the “Wagner Group”. I’m speaking about government-to-government cooperation.”

A court in Russia ordered the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Center 

Russia’s Memorial Human Rights Centre was ordered to shut by a Moscow court on Wednesday, a day after its sister organisation – Russia’s oldest human rights group – was forced to close.

“I don’t see any reason why it should be raised at the UN at all,”  Ambassador Polyanskiy said in response to  a question regarding whether Russia fears the issue of the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Center being raised at the UN.    “As for whether I was afraid that it might be raised at the UN, we have nothing to be afraid of and to be ashamed of because everything we do – we do it for the benefit of our country and our people. And we have total support of our people in this regard. So why should we be afraid of any discussion of this kind?”