Russia calls for political solution to Darfur situation
June 26, 2007 (MOSCOW) — The situation in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur should be resolved exclusively by political means, in a balanced and comprehensive way, with respect for Sudan’s sovereignty and maintaining its territorial integrity, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. .
In a press release issued today, the Russian foreign ministry was commenting the meeting of the extended contact group on the Darfur crisis held in Paris yesterday which was attended by Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Aleksandr Yakovenko.
Russia shares the international community’s acute concern over the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, reported the Russian news agency RIA Novosti .
All aspects of the Darfur situation: political, peacekeeping and humanitarian were considered at the meeting in Paris. Russia takes as its starting point that “the priority at the current stage remains to move forward with the process of finding a political solution,” says the statement.
In that context, general support was expressed at the meeting for implementing the “road map” on preparing and holding a new round of peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur opposition, which was drawn up by special representatives of the UN secretary-general and the chairman of the commission of the African Union.
Regarding the parameters of peacekeeping in Darfur from now on, Russia praised the trilateral agreements reached between the United Nations, the African Union and Khartoum on transforming the African Union’s mission to Sudan that used to operate in Darfur into a joint UN-African peacekeeping operation. This format will certainly make peacekeeping efforts in Darfur significantly more effective, says the ministry’s statement.
The importance of strengthening controls to ensure the observation of previous agreements and the cease-fire in Darfur was noted at the Paris meeting as a prerequisite for setting up this operation.
The Paris meeting paid particular attention to mobilizing the international community to cooperate with the Sudanese government in the interests of helping resolve the extremely worrying humanitarian situation in Darfur, increasing food, medical and other aid to the civilian population, many of whom have been forced to leave their homes and are now in refugee camps or have become internally displaced persons.
“We view the Paris meeting as an important step towards activating multilateral work to resolve the situation in Darfur, coordinated by the UN and the African Union,” says the statement.
(ST)