Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has shown his confidence in the war with Russia before the UN Security Council. Russian President Vladimir “Putin will lose much sooner than he thinks,” Kuleba told a special session of the UN Security Council in New York on Friday to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for peace in Ukraine with emphatic words.
“Life is hell for the people of Ukraine,” Guterres said. Peace must be achieved in accordance with the UN charter. “We have to avoid further escalation,” Guterres said. “We must all make every reasonable effort to end the bloodshed and finally give peace a chance.” Guterres emphasized the humanitarian suffering of the civilian population: more than 13 million Ukrainians have fled or been expelled. 17.6 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian aid. More than 700 attacks on health facilities have been verified and 3,000 schools and universities have been confirmed.
Kuleba again called for the establishment of a special court with special jurisdiction over aggressive war crime, citing the Nuremberg war crimes court after World War II as a model. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister again emphasized that thousands of children from his country were kidnapped to Russia.
“Possibly the largest case of state-sponsored child abduction in the history of our modern world.” Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly pointed out that entire families, including children, are being deported to Russia from the occupied territories. Russia denies the allegations. At the end of his speech, Kuleba began a minute of silence for the victims of war.
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebensja, took the floor and demanded that the minute’s silence be applied to victims on all sides since 2014. He stood as other members of the UN’s most powerful body hesitated, but finally rose as well . He accused Kiev’s western supporters of wanting to destroy Russia. The word “peace” is used covertly by Kiev and other countries. “What is meant is a capitulation of Russia, which ideally inflicts a strategic defeat on Russia, followed by dissolution of the country and reorganization of territories.”
In her speech, Nebensia reiterated baseless allegations that Moscow was fighting a Nazi regime in Kiev. He accused Western countries of interfering and condemned arms sales to Ukraine. He accused Germany and France of just buying Ukraine time with the 2014 Minsk Accord so Kiev could prepare for war with Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, however, put the importance of the Chinese peace effort into perspective. “I wouldn’t call it a peace plan. It’s actually not a peace plan, it’s a position paper in which China has compiled all of its positions,” Borrell said in New York. However, there are interesting observations in the article. Borrell urged China to also discuss its intentions with Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the Ukrainians’ resilience. “Because of the unwavering resistance of Ukrainian supporters, President Putin has failed in his primary objective of winning Ukraine and its existence as an independent country and integrating it into Russia.” At the same time, he warned against a temporary ceasefire. “Russia will use any lull in the fighting to consolidate control over illegally captured territory and build up its forces for further attacks.”
At the Security Council meeting, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized the Chinese position paper on the Russian war in Ukraine. “China has a special responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council. It could have used its influence over Russia to convince Russia of this plan. Talking about peace should not mean submission. Equating aggressor and victim does not create peace, but rewards.” violence,” said Baerbock.
In New York, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly accused Putin of sacrificing his own soldiers for selfish reasons. “His land grabs in eastern and southern Ukraine show that his heart is set on imperial expansion – yet 800 Russian soldiers die a day because of their hopeless ambitions. They pay for their ego with their lives.” He ably emphasized that Britain would do everything possible to continue helping Kiev. “Our support for Ukraine is and will never be temporary.”