Prime Minister António Costa on Thursday criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible threats to use nuclear weapons” and called on Russia to end hostilities rather than escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
António Costa left these messages at the beginning of his speech during the general debate of the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, a meeting marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its global consequences.
“Russia must cease hostilities and establish a serious and lasting dialogue aimed at a ceasefire and peace. This is not the time for Russia to escalate the conflict or make irresponsible threats to take refuge to nuclear weapons,” he said.
The Prime Minister began his speech in Portuguese, noting that the UN was established in 1945 for the purpose of maintaining world peace and security and “sparing future generations from the scourge of war, adding:” 77 years then have we still cannot achieve these goals. All over the world, many children, and even adults, have never known peace.”
He then spoke of the “unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, in flagrant violation of international law, in violation of the United Nations Charter”, with “devastating consequences for the Ukrainian people, brutally killing the civilian population.” affected”.
António Costa defended that “the gravity of the acts committed necessitates an independent, impartial and transparent investigation so that the crimes committed do not go unpunished” and made it a point to “condemn once again the Russian aggression” and reiterated “the support of Portugal to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
The prime minister also expressed solidarity with “all those who, around the world, and in particular on the African continent, are suffering from the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, stressing that “the most vulnerable are those who impact most from the energy and food crisis – after being ravaged by nearly three years of pandemic crisis”.
Therefore, he wanted to “make it clear and unequivocal that the necessary sanctions against Russia cannot have direct or indirect consequences for the production, transport and payment of grains or fertilizers”.
“We welcome the efforts of the entire United Nations system, especially the Secretary-General, António Guterres, to resolve this conflict and mitigate the damaging effects that result, such as the food crisis,” he said.
Source: DN
