Too bad we don't have a president who can speak in words longer than
two syllables.
On 9/28/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
But it didn't sound like Trump. It was a much better speech than he's ever
given. It talked about peace and cooperation, and about
allowing each country to find its way. It talked about the value of the
United Nations. And it mentioned that they have a vaccine which they are
willing to share. Trump would never make a speech like that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 4:42 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Vladimir Putin delivered a pre-recorded
video
address to the 75th anniversary session of the United Nations General
Assembly.
Amazing, for fun you could take Putin's name off of that speech and
circulate it to a bunch of conservatives giving Trump credit instead and
they'll tell you it was the best speech in the history of the human race.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 1:36 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Vladimir Putin delivered a pre-recorded video
address to the 75th anniversary session of the United Nations General
Assembly.
Read this and tell me if he sounds like an enemy of the US. Actually, we'd
be grateful if we had a President who could make such a sane speech.
Miriam
75th session of the UN General Assembly
Vladimir Putin delivered a pre-recorded video address to the 75th
anniversary session of the United Nations General Assembly.
September 22, 202019:15
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General,
colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
This year, the international community celebrates two, without
exaggeration,
historic anniversaries: the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World
War and establishment of the United Nations.
The importance of these two forever interlinked events cannot be
overemphasized. In 1945, Nazism was defeated, the ideology of aggression
and
hatred was crushed, and the experience and spirit of alliance, as well as
the awareness of the huge price that had been paid for peace and our common
Victory, helped construct the post-war world order. It was built on the
ultimate foundation of the UN Charter that remains the main source of
international law to this day.
I am convinced that this anniversary makes it incumbent upon all of us to
recall the timeless principles of inter-State communication enshrined in
the
UN Charter and formulated by the founding fathers of our universal
Organization in the clearest and most unambiguous terms. These principles
include the equality of sovereign States, non-interference with their
domestic affairs, the right of peoples to determine their own future,
non-use of force or the threat of force, and political settlement of
disputes.
Looking back at the past decades, one can say that despite all difficulties
of the Cold War period, major geopolitical shifts and all the intricacies
of
today's global politics, the UN has been ably fulfilling its mission of
protecting peace, promoting sustainable development of the peoples and
continents and providing assistance in mitigating local crises.
This enormous potential and expertise of the UN is relevant and serves as a
solid basis for moving ahead. After all, just like any other international
organization or regional entity, the UN should not grow stiff, but evolve
in
accordance with the dynamics of the 21st century and consistently adapt to
the realia of the modern world that is indeed becoming more complicated,
multipolar and multidimensional.
The current changes certainly have an effect on the principal UN body, the
Security Council, as well as on the debate concerning the approaches to its
reform. Our logic is that the Security Council should be more inclusive of
the interests of all countries, as well as the diversity of their
positions,
base its work on the principle of the broadest possible consensus among
States and, at the same time, continue to serve as the cornerstone of
global
governance, which cannot be achieved unless the permanent members of the
Security Council retain their veto power.
Such a right pertaining to the five nuclear powers, the victors of the
Second World War, remains indicative of the actual military and political
balance to this day. Most importantly, it is an essential and unique
instrument that helps prevent unilateral actions that may result in a
direct
military confrontation between major States, and provides an opportunity to
seek compromise or at least avoid solutions that would be completely
unacceptable to others and act within the framework of international law,
rather than a vague, gray area of arbitrariness and illegitimacy.
As diplomatic practice shows, this instrument actually works, unlike the
infamous pre-war League of Nations with its endless discussions,
declarations without mechanisms for real action and with States and peoples
in need not having the right to assistance and protection.
Forgetting the lessons of history is short-sighted and extremely
irresponsible, just like the politicized attempts to arbitrarily interpret
the causes, course and outcomes of the Second World War and twist the
decisions of the conferences of the Allies and the Nuremberg Tribunal that
are based on speculation instead of facts.
It is not just vile and offending the memory of the fighters against
Nazism.
It is a direct and devastating blow to the very foundation of the post-war
world order, which is particularly dangerous in view of the global
stability
facing serious challenges, the arms control system breaking down, regional
conflicts continuing unabated, and threats posed by terrorism, organized
crime and drug trafficking intensifying.
We are also experiencing a whole new challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.
This disease has directly affected millions of people and claimed the most
important thing: the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Quarantines,
border closures, numerous serious troubles to citizens of almost all States
constitute the present-day realia. It has been especially difficult for
elderly people who, due to the necessary restrictions, have not been able
to
hug their loved ones, children and grandchildren for weeks or even months.
Experts are yet to fully assess the scale of the social and economic shock
caused by the pandemic and all its long-term consequences. However, it is
already evident that it will take a really, really long time to restore the
global economy. Furthermore, even the proven anti-crisis measures will not
always work. We will need new innovative solutions.
The only way to elaborate such solutions is to work together, which is the
most important task for both the UN and G20 States, as well as other
leading
inter-State organizations and integration associations that are also going
through tough times due to the pandemic impact and need fundamentally new
horizons and scope of development.
This very idea of a qualitative integrative growth, the "integration of
integrations", is the one behind Russia's initiative to form a Greater
Eurasian Partnership involving all Asian and European countries without
exception. It is purely pragmatic and increasingly relevant.
Besides, I would like to draw attention once again to Russia's proposal to
create so-called "green corridors" free from trade wars and sanctions,
primarily for essential goods, food, medicine and personal protective
equipment needed to fight the pandemic.
In general, freeing the world trade from barriers, bans, restrictions and
illegitimate sanctions would be of great help in revitalizing global growth
and reducing unemployment. According to experts, total or partial reduction
in global employment in the second quarter of this year equals to the loss
of 400 million jobs, and we have to do our utmost to prevent this
unemployment from growing long-term and ensure that people return to work
and can support their families instead of finding themselves imprisoned by
poverty with no prospects in life.
This is indeed a most acute global social problem, so the politics has a
mission now to pave the way for trade, joint projects and fair competition,
rather than tie the hands of business and discourage business initiative.
The pandemic has also pinpointed a series of ethical, technological and
humanitarian matters. For instance, advanced digital technologies helped
quickly reorganize education, trade and services, as well as set up distant
learning and online courses for people of different ages. Artificial
intelligence has assisted doctors in making more accurate and timely
diagnoses and finding the best treatment.
However, just like any other innovation, digital technologies tend to
spread
uncontrollably and, just like conventional weapons, can fall into the hands
of various radicals and extremists not only in the regional conflict zones,
but also in quite prosperous countries, thus engendering enormous risks.
In this regard, matters related to cybersecurity and the use of advanced
digital technology also deserve a most serious deliberation within the UN.
It is important to hear and appreciate the concerns of people over the
protection of their rights, such as the right to privacy, property and
security, in the new era.
We must learn to use new technologies for the benefit of humankind, seek
for
a right balance between encouraging the development of artificial
intelligence and justifiable restrictions to limit it, and work together
towards a consensus in the field of regulation that would avert potential
threats in terms of both military and technological security, as well as
traditions, law, and morals of human communication.
I would like to point out that during the pandemic, doctors, volunteers and
citizens of various countries have been showing us examples of mutual
assistance and support, and such solidarity defies borders. Many countries
have also been helping each other selflessly and open-heartedly. However,
there have been cases showing the deficit of humanity and, if you will,
kindness in the relations at the official inter-State level.
We believe that the UN prestige could strengthen and enhance the role of
the
humanitarian or human component in multilateral and bilateral relations,
namely in people-to-people and youth exchanges, cultural ties, social and
educational programs, as well as cooperation in sports, science,
technology,
environment and health protection.
As to healthcare, just like in economy, we now need to remove, as many as
possible, obstacles to partner relations. Our country has been actively
contributing to global and regional counter-COVID-19 efforts, providing
assistance to most affected states both bilaterally and within multilateral
formats.
In doing so, we first of all take into account the central coordinating
role
of the World Health Organization, which is part of the UN system. We
believe
it essential to qualitatively strengthen the WHO capability. This work has
already begun, and Russia is genuinely motivated to engage in it.
Building on the scientific, industrial and clinical experience of its
doctors Russia has promptly developed a range of test systems and medicines
to detect and treat the coronavirus, as well as registered the world's
first
vaccine, "Sputnik-V."
I would like to reiterate that we are completely open to partner relations
and willing to cooperate. In this context, we are proposing to hold an
online high-level conference shortly for countries interested in
cooperation
in the development of anti-coronavirus vaccines.
We are ready to share experience and continue cooperating with all States
and international entities, including in supplying the Russian vaccine
which
has proved reliable, safe, and effective, to other countries. Russia is
sure
that all capacities of the global pharmaceutical industry need to be
employed so as to provide a free access to vaccination for the population
of
all states in the foreseeable future.
A dangerous virus can affect anyone. The coronavirus has struck the staff
of
the United Nations, its headquarters and regional structures just like
everyone else. Russia is ready to provide the UN with all the necessary
qualified assistance; in particular, we are offering to provide our
vaccine,
free of charge, for the voluntary vaccination of the staff of the UN and
its
offices. We have received requests from our UN colleagues in this respect,
and we will respond to those.
There are other critical items on today's agenda. The issues of both
environmental protection and climate change should remain the focus of
joint
efforts.
The specialized multilateral UN conventions, treaties and protocols have
proved fully relevant. We are calling on all states to comply with them in
good faith, particularly in working to achieve the objectives of the Paris
Agreement.
Dear colleagues! I would like to underline again, that Russia will make
every effort to contribute to peaceful political and diplomatic resolution
of regional crises and conflicts, as well as to ensuring strategic
stability.
For all the disputes and differences, at times misunderstanding and even
distrust on the part of some colleagues, we will consistently advance
constructive, uniting initiatives, first of all in arms control and
strengthening the treaty regimes existing in this area. This includes the
prohibition of chemical, biological and toxin weapons.
The issue of primary importance that should and must be promptly dealt with
is, of course, the extension of the Russia-US Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty, which will expire shortly, i.e. in February 2021. We are engaged in
negotiations with our US partners on the matter.
We also expect that mutual restraint would be exercised with regard to
deploying new missile systems. I would like to add that as early as last
year, Russia declared a moratorium on deploying ground-launched medium and
short-range missiles in Europe and other regions as long as the United
States of America refrains from such actions. Unfortunately, we have not
received any reaction to our proposal from either our US partners or their
allies.
I believe that such reciprocal steps on specific issues would provide a
sound basis for launching a serious, profound dialogue on the entire range
of factors affecting strategic stability. It would aim at achieving
comprehensive arrangements, shaping a solid foundation for the
international
security architecture that would build on prior experience in this field
and
in line with both the existing and future politico-military and
technological realia.
In particular, Russia is putting forward an initiative to sign a binding
agreement between all the leading space powers that would provide for the
prohibition of the placement of weapons in outer space, threat or use of
force against outer space objects.
We are well aware of the fact that security issues as well as other
problems
discussed by this jubilee UN General Assembly call for consolidated efforts
on the basis of values that unite us, our shared memory of the lessons of
history, and the spirit of alliance which guided the anti-Hitler coalition
participants who found it possible to raise above differences and
ideological preferences for the sake of Victory and peace for all nations
on
the Earth.
In the current challenging environment, it is important for all countries
to
show political will, wisdom and foresight. The permanent members of the UN
Security Council - those powers that, for 75 years now, have been bearing
particular responsibility for international peace and security, the
preservation of the foundations of international law - should take the lead
here.
Fully realizing this responsibility, Russia has suggested convening a G5
summit. It would aim at reaffirming the key principles of behavior in
international affairs, elaborating ways to effectively address today's most
burning issues. It is encouraging that our partners have supported the
initiative. We expect to hold such summit - in person - as soon as
epidemiological situation makes it possible.
I would like to reiterate that in an interrelated, interdependent world,
amid the whirlpool of international developments, we need to work together
drawing on the principles and norms of international law enshrined in the
UN
Charter. This is the only way for us to carry out the paramount mission of
our Organization and provide a decent life for the present and future
generations.
I wish all the peoples of our planet peace and well-being.
Thank you.
