The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, considered this Thursday, at a meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine, “totally unacceptable” that the idea of a nuclear conflict, “before unthinkable”, “has become the subject of debate” . “.
Guterres spoke at a ministerial meeting on the situation of the Ukrainian conflict, convened by France and entitled “The fight against impunity in Ukraine”, which was attended by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Ukrainian Dmytro Kuleba.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine shows no signs of stopping. The last seven months have been one of indescribable suffering and devastation. The latest developments are dangerous and disturbing. They are further away from any prospect of peace, and towards an endless cycle of horror and bloodshed,” Guterres began.
“As I said from the beginning, this senseless war has unlimited potential to cause terrible damage, in Ukraine and around the world. The idea of a nuclear conflict, previously unthinkable, has become a topic of debate and this, in itself, is totally unacceptable. All nuclear-weapon states must recommit to the non-use and total elimination of nuclear weapons,” the Secretary-General urged.
Despite the calls, António Guterres did not refer -directly- at any time to the threats made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday about a nuclear escalation of the war.
In his statements before the Security Council, Guterres warned that, daily, “an average of five children are killed or injured” in Ukraine, “marked by the nightmare of war, from violence to family separation.”
“Around 14 million people were forced to flee, most of them women and children. The situation will only worsen as winter approaches and gas and electricity supplies dwindle,” he said.
Guterres also referred to the work being carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukrainian territory, highlighting the “unacceptable impact of this war on human rights.”
“The reports are a catalog of cruelties: summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war. The latest reports from the Izyum cemeteries are extremely disturbing,” he pleaded, urging that all these allegations are examined and investigated, in a way that ensures accountability.
This meeting of the Security Council is chaired by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, and has also included statements by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan.
Member states such as Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania and Poland were also allowed to participate in the meeting. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also participated in the meeting.
Source: TSF
