DECRYPTION – Wearing his military uniform, the Ukrainian president condemned Russia’s unjustified invasion of his country on Tuesday.
Washington correspondent
Zelensky is returning to the US to ensure continued US military aid, but also to try to expand international diplomatic support for his country. The Ukrainian president, who addressed the United Nations via video from Kiev last year, this time traveled in person to the UN General Assembly in New York.
In his military uniform, which he has worn in all circumstances since the beginning of the war, Volodymyr Zelensky repeated a fairly clear message: Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine is a violation of his country’s sovereignty and one of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.
Russia alone is responsible for the war, Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately
Joe Biden
He accused Moscow of using food and energy “as weapons” and said Russia had “no right to have nuclear weapons.” Regarding Russia’s transfer of “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian children to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, he denounced a “genocide.” Finally, he announced that his country was preparing a “world peace summit” to which he would invite all world leaders who opposed the Russian invasion.
His historic speech aimed to garner military and diplomatic support for Ukraine’s war effort, but was particularly aimed at states in Latin America, Africa and Asia, whose support for Ukraine remains mixed.
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American President Joe Biden, who was the only permanent head of state of the Security Council to attend the United Nations General Assembly this year, also recalled in his speech the obvious violation of the organization’s statutes by Russia. “Certain principles of international relations are sacrosanct: sovereignty, territorial integrity and respect for human rights,” Biden recalled, “and yet this assembly, dedicated to the peaceful resolution of conflicts, will witness for the second consecutive year war, an illegal and The illegal war was overshadowed by Russia’s unjustified war of conquest against a neighboring country, Ukraine. Russia alone is responsible for the war, Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately.”
Ambiguous attitude
“If we abandon the basic principles of the United Nations Charter to appease an aggressor, can member states feel protected?” warned the American president. “If we allow Ukraine to be divided, will the independence of a nation be secured? The answer is no. We must confront this open aggression today to deter other potential aggressors tomorrow. “That is why the United States, our allies and partners around the world will continue to support the courageous people of Ukraine in defending their sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom.”
Brazil, India and South Africa have adopted an ambivalent stance since the start of the Russian invasion
But on the international diplomatic stage, as in domestic politics, facts are less important than perceptions or prejudices. For different reasons, but often linked to distrust of the United States and Western countries, the Russian version of the Ukraine war resonated in what we now call the “Global South.” Rather than viewing Russia’s aggression as an attack on international norms, this alternative narrative asserts that it is instead the United States and its Western allies that are destabilizing international peace and security and escalating the conflict.
Brazil, India and South Africa have adopted an ambivalent stance since the start of the Russian invasion. Brazilian President Lula da Silva regularly blames Russia, the United States and the European Union equally for the war. Nevertheless, last February Brazil voted for a resolution calling for an end to the Russian invasion. However, India, China and South Africa abstained from voting.
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The Security Council, paralyzed by Russia’s veto, took the United Nations back to the Cold War era, when the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, blocked resolutions deemed hostile to their interests. The fact that Washington regularly vetoes any text condemning Israeli policies is also seen by many countries as an example of the United States’ “double standards.” The episode of the invasion of Iraq without a UN mandate in 2003 is also remembered as a case in which Washington showed less respect for international norms.
Zelensky, who plans to visit Washington on Thursday, also has to worry about American domestic politics. An isolationist faction of the Republican Party is calling for stricter limits on the amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine and threatening to suspend the state’s ability to function if its budget terms are not accepted.
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