Before the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Thursday, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, urged Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to fail and “international law to prevail”.
“We must make sure that aggression fails and international law prevails,” Borrell told members of the UN’s highest body before emphasizing that “the Ukrainian people deserve peace, but not just peace.”.
Speaking at a regular meeting dedicated to cooperation between the UN and the European Union (EU), the Spanish diplomat added that “a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and the first and most obvious steps towards peace are the aggressor to stop their attacks and withdraw their troops from Ukraine”.
“Until then, the European Union will continue to give Ukraine all the support it needs to defend its people,” Borrell added, contrary to the statements of Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijarto, who had spoken several dozen times almost at the same time. of meters, for the UN General Assembly, the cessation of hostilities without preconditions.
“Neither arms transfers nor sanctions (to Russia) save lives. On the contrary, they contribute to the escalation and prolongation of the conflict and bring more suffering”said the Hungarian politician at a special session of the General Assembly where a resolution to end hostilities in Ukraine will be voted on.
Borrell also urged the international community to revive the UN and the multilateral system, “threatened like never before”, at a time when we are witnessing the “proliferation of conflicts, the climate crisis, systematic attacks on democracy and human rights and the deepening of global inequalities”.
“Problems are increasing and our collective ability to find solutions is diminishing,” said Borrell, who also defended the importance of action.
In addition, he criticized what he described as “the too narrow nationalist agendas of many countries”, without naming names, but which he considered one of the main obstacles to the development of multilateralism.
In a 25-minute speech, Borrell also referred to other problems, crises and conflicts such as terrorism, the climate crisis, the situation in the Sahel or Afghanistan, human rights violations or the recent devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey.
“We remain committed to all human, individual and collective, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights,” said the head of European diplomacy, who concluded his speech with the assurance: “Apart from the war in Ukraine, we remain committed to many crises, involving many people around the world, and we are doing everything we can to improve the peace and security situation.”
Despite Borrell’s words, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, accused the European Union of “Russophobia” and criticized the supply of arms to Kiev.
“When historians describe the years 2022 to 2023, in the chapter dedicated to the European Union, the most commonly used words will probably be degradation, helplessness, myopia and Russophobia,” said Nebenzya.
“Last year we learned a lot about the true essence of European diplomacy. For example, we learned that the struggle for peace for European diplomats means increasing arms deliveries to a conflict zone,” said the Russian diplomat. the European Union has become “an obedient instrument of the Americans”.
Source: DN
