Zelensky warns UN General Assembly: “It’s not just about Ukraine”

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has portrayed Russia’s war against his country in the UN General Assembly as an attack on the entire world. “It’s not just about Ukraine,” the head of state said on Tuesday, wearing an olive green military-style polo shirt, during the general UN debate in New York. “When hatred is used as a weapon against a nation, it never ends,” he warned during his first personal appearance at the United Nations since the war began. “Every decade Russia starts a new war.” Parts of Moldova and Georgia are occupied, Russia has almost annexed Belarus and threatens Kazakhstan, the Baltic states – and the international order.

In view of increasing war fatigue, US President Joe Biden also called on the international community to support Ukraine in its defensive fight against Russia – not least for his own protection. “The world must confront naked aggression today to deter other potential aggressors tomorrow.”

“Many seats in the room could become empty”

Zelensky was greeted with loud applause by the largest UN body and spoke in English. “Many seats in the hall of the General Assembly could become empty if Russia succeeds in its treachery and aggression,” he warned. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was represented in the room by his deputy ambassador to the United Nations, who is considered a political hardliner.

Zelensky told UN members that Moscow was not only attacking his country militarily, but also using instruments other than weapons. “These things are not only being used against our country, but against yours as well.” As an example, he cited the increased food prices as a result of the Russian blockade of grain exports. “The impacts extend from the Atlantic coast of Africa to Southeast Asia.” Moscow also uses energy as a weapon to weaken the governments of other countries. Zelensky called for a joint defense against the threat from Russia: “We must stop this.”

Biden: No one is safe if Ukraine isn’t safe

Biden appealed to the solidarity of the 193 UN member states. “If we allow Ukraine to be torn apart, will the independence of any country be safe? The answer is no.”

The largest diplomatic meeting in the world comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has been going on for more than a year and a half. In some parts of the world, support for Kiev is beginning to wane.

Biden warned against giving in to this. “Russia believes the world is growing tired and allowing Ukraine to become brutal without consequences.” But if core international principles were abandoned “to appease an aggressor, can a member state be confident that it will be protected?” Polish President Andrzej Duda also warned regarding the war in the neighboring country: “Today Ukraine is the victim. Tomorrow it could be any of us.”

Selenski’s chance in New York

Zelensky continued in his speech that his country had evidence that hundreds of thousands of children had been abducted by Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine. About the nuclear threat from Moscow, he said: “Terrorists have no right to nuclear weapons.”

Last year, Zelensky addressed the United Nations via video. This time, immediately after his arrival on Monday, he and his wife Olena Selenska visited a hospital in New York’s Staten Island district where wounded Ukrainian soldiers are being treated.

Selenski had recently participated in G7, NATO and EU summits. But the UN General Assembly provides the biggest stage and opportunity for Ukraine to convince skeptical countries.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian also met influential presidents William Ruto of Kenya and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa for private talks. Ramaphosa was invited to an Africa summit in St Petersburg in July at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The concerns of others

Many countries, especially in Latin America, Africa and Asia, would like to see more attention paid to their problems and to the main topic on which the UN week actually focuses: new cooperation on equal terms between industrialized and developing countries. Many leaders of the so-called Global South want peace in Ukraine.

This is clearly visible in the mediation efforts of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In his speech, which was mainly marked by concerns about the consequences of climate change, Lula urged peace talks for Ukraine. He recently said in an interview that the war in Ukraine is tiring humanity. (SDA)

Source: Blick