Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Russia’s invasion of his country was “criminal” and that Moscow should be stripped of its veto power in this UN body.
“Most of the world recognizes the truth about this war,” Zelensky said as Russia’s UN ambassador sat opposite him. “It is a criminal and unprovoked aggression by Russia against our nation, with the aim of seizing Ukraine’s territory and resources.”
Zelensky said the place Russia “illegally” occupies on the UN Security Council was occupied by “liars, whose job is to cover up aggression and genocide.”
“Today we hear too often in the General Assembly about global inequality. Inequality is mentioned by several countries, both larger and smaller. It is precisely this inequality that makes the UN ineffective.”Zelensky said.
574 days of pain, losses and struggles have already passed since the beginning of the large-scale aggression of the state, which for some reason is still here among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. pic.twitter.com/K5ucPhmlWS
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 20, 2023
The Ukrainian head of state has proposed several measures to the United Nations Security Council aimed at limiting Russia’s power as a permanent member of the body with veto power.
Given the difficulty of reforming the structure of the UN bodies themselves, the Ukrainian president proposed to bypass the veto by giving the General Assembly the power to veto the five permanent members (Russia, United States) by qualified majority. to be pushed aside. , China, France and the United Kingdom).
Furthermore, he proposed that if any of these countries “resort to aggression against another nation, contrary to the founding charter of the UN”, that country should be suspended from the Security Council for a specified period.
Addressing the Security Council in person for the first time, Zelensky argued that these reforms could move the UN as a whole out of the current “dead end of aggression,” even though the General Assembly has recognized – by an overwhelming majority – that Russia is the aggressor in this conflict.
This situation meant that “humanity no longer places its hope in the UN when it comes to defending the sovereign borders of nations”.
The war has shown that there are “574 reasons” to implement this reform, the same number of days as the Russian invasion lasts.
In addition to these proposals, Zelensky joined increasingly widespread calls to reform the composition of the Security Council to better reflect global representation and specifically mentioned the need for Germany, India, Japan, the Arab world and America Latina to to have a seat.
Unlike Tuesday, when he addressed the General Assembly, today Zelensky chose to speak his language and had to wait more than twenty minutes for the Council Presidency to resolve the Russian protests for procedural reasons, as happened on other occasions when the Council invited Zelensky to speak via video conference.
He was expected to hear the supposed details he promised to give about his Peace Formula, but in the end he only repeated that Russia’s complete withdrawal from Ukrainian territory (including military units and mercenaries) and the “full recovery” of Ukrainian sovereignty also over the Black Sea could lead to a ‘cessation of hostilities’.
Finally, the Ukrainian leader said he was ready to hold “ten conferences of advisers in accordance with the ten points of the Peace Formula” and then hold a summit of “all the nations of the world” to implement his plan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov remained absent as Zelensky spoke, a seat occupied by Vasili Nebenzya, the country’s ambassador to the UN.
The UN “can do more”, said the Ukrainian head of state. “I am convinced that the Charter of the United Nations can truly contribute to global peace and security.” But for this to happen, he argued, a “viable UN reform process” is necessary. “And it should not just be a matter of representation here in the Security Council, the use of the veto,” he added.
Zelensky left the UN Security Council before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov intervened.
The Security Council, charged with ensuring international peace and security, has held more than 50 meetings on Ukraine – almost always controversial, with many heated exchanges – but without concrete decisions. This is due to Russia’s sure veto of any Council resolution criticizing what it calls its “special military operation”.
According to information released by the UN, 62 leaders or state representatives have registered to speak at today’s meeting, in addition to the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
News updated at 6:23 PM
Source: DN
