"Madame President, now African colleagues are able to take responsible decisions on ensuring peace and security in their region," Nebenzya said during a UN Security Council meeting on peace and security in Africa.
The ambassador made the comments on the issue of African Union-led peace support operations and related issues.
Nebenzya said Russia supports the position expressed by African states in a consensus letter at the African Union summit held in February, when they emphasized the necessity for the United Nations to allocate adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for the organization’s peace support operations.
Nebenzya expressed Russia’s opinion that it is not normal for the African Union peace keeping operations to be dependent on irregular assistance either from individual countries or associations related to them.
Moreover, the ambassador said the African Union-led missions, in contrast to those of the United Nations, have the advantage and ability to react swiftly to emerging threats and ensure their forces’ readiness.
"We're convinced that Africans better than anyone else, know the nature and root causes of instability in their region," Nebenzya added.
Russia is ready to participate in substantive discussions on issues related to AU peacekeeping operations under the premises of a future negotiation process or Security Council resolution on the issue, Nebenzya added.