Volodymyr Zelensky is expected at the United Nations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take the podium at the United Nations for the first time on Tuesday. A year ago, he was exceptionally given the authority to intervene via video message. This time he will be there in person, at the high-level session of the annual United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and at a special meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday, before heading to Washington, where he will be received at the White House House THURSDAY.
“It is very important for us that our words, all our messages are heard by our partners,” he said on Monday as he met injured Ukrainian soldiers at the front in a New York hospital. “Ukraine will submit a concrete proposal to UN member states on how to strengthen the principle of territorial integrity and improve the UN’s ability to thwart and stop aggression,” he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Since the Russian invasion, an overwhelming majority of countries in the UN General Assembly have passed several resolutions supporting Ukraine and its territorial integrity or calling for Russia to withdraw. But after a year and a half of war and cascading impacts, particularly on food security, some countries in the south are pleading for a diplomatic solution.
In this context, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s speech is expected on the podium. Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed financial sanctions on Russia or agreed to supply Kiev with ammunition, seeking to position itself as a mediator like China and Indonesia.
According to tradition, the Brazilian will be the first head of state to speak. He is followed in particular by American President Joe Biden and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is trying to revive the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea.