President Volodymyr Zelensky launched a violent tirade at the UN on Tuesday against Moscow accused of “genocide” in Ukraine, while his American counterpart Joe Biden called on all countries to “rise up against Russian aggression.”
Russia’s deportation of “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian children is “clearly a genocide,” he accused from the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York, also denouncing that Russia uses food and nuclear energy “as weapon”.
“Terrorists have no right to possess nuclear weapons,” he stated, while inviting world leaders opposed to Russian aggression to help him prepare “a peace summit.”
“Russia is using the price of food (…) and nuclear energy as a weapon,” he also accused. He finally reiterated his call for the organization of a “world summit for peace.”
“I invite you all – all those who do not tolerate any aggression – to jointly prepare this summit,” he insisted.
Applauded for the first time
Volodymyr Zelensky was widely applauded upon entering the venue, under the gaze of Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, present at the Russian table.
In the morning, US President Joe Biden criticized Russia for “believing that the world will get tired and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequences.”
“If we allow Ukraine to be dismembered, is the independence of nations still guaranteed? The answer is no,” he insisted, to the applause of the Ukrainian president and the public.
A year ago, Volodymyr Zelensky received exceptional permission to speak by video message.
This time he is there in person, for this annual mass at which he spoke in the middle of the day on Tuesday, before participating in a special meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday and leaving for Washington, where he will be received in the House. White Thursday.
“Dialogue”
Since the Russian invasion, an overwhelming majority of countries have adopted several resolutions in the UN General Assembly supporting Ukraine and its territorial integrity or calling for Russia’s withdrawal.
But after a year and a half of war with cascading impacts on the world, particularly on food security, certain countries in the South are advocating for a diplomatic solution.
“We will intensify our efforts to end the war through diplomacy and dialogue, on the basis of the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” launched Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stressing that “there will be no winners in the war.” war nor losers in peace. .”
In Ukraine, “no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue,” insisted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will meet on Wednesday with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“A lot has been invested in weapons and very little in development,” he lamented.
Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed financial sanctions on Russia or agreed to supply weapons to kyiv, and the country is trying to position itself, like China, as a mediator.
“I am aware that for some leaders it is important to find a peaceful solution,” European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. But “for this peace to be lasting, it must respect the principles” of the UN, he said.
“A world upside down”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres painted a very bleak picture of a “world turned upside down,” where geopolitical tensions “are worsening” and global warming “more directly compromises our future.”
Symbol of this “compilation” of crises, the Derna floods in Libya, “sad snapshot of the state of our world, swept away by the torrent of inequalities and injustices, and paralyzed by the challenges that must be faced,” he said, he lamented.
The thousands of people who lost their lives “were victims of various scourges. Victims of years of conflict. Victims of climate chaos. Victims of leaders who, there and elsewhere, failed to find the path to peace.”
As a prelude to Monday’s General Assembly, developing countries reminded the rest of the world of their promises to improve the lot of humanity by 2030, insisting in particular on a reform of the international financial architecture.
A request reiterated by Antonio Guterres, who sees it as a reason for the fragmentation of the world.
Apart from the United States, no other permanent member of the Security Council (France, United Kingdom, China, Russia) is represented at the highest level. Absences that some diplomats see as a bad sign for the UN.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi was scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, as his country and the United States just carried out a rare prisoner exchange under an agreement that includes the transfer to Tehran of six billion dollars of frozen funds.
Source: BFM TV
