Zelenskyy tells UN that Russia must be ‘forced into peace’

Ukrainian president stresses Russia, which invaded in February 2022, has been the ‘sole aggressor’ and ‘sole violator’ of the UN Charter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the United Nations Security Council that negotiations will not be enough to end the war in Ukraine and that Russia needs to be “forced into peace”.

Zelenskyy told a high-level meeting of the 15-member council in New York that Russian President Vladimir Putin was committing “an international crime” and had broken so many international rules that he would not stop on his own.

“And that’s why this war can’t simply fade away. That’s why this war can’t be calmed by talks,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed — forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter.”

Zelenskyy is aiming to build support among Ukraine’s allies for what he has called a  “victory plan” to end the war that began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He stressed the war would not end because “someone got tired of the war” or through a trade with Putin, a reference to proposals that Ukraine cede some territory seized by Russia to end the conflict.

Russia currently occupies less than 20 percent of Ukraine and is pressing forward on the eastern front line.

The meeting was attended by ministers from 14 of the council’s member nations except Russia, which sent its Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia.

He complained that Zelenskyy was being given a UN spotlight again.

“Western countries could not refrain from poisoning the atmosphere once again, trying to fill the airtime with the hackneyed Ukrainian issue,” Nebenzia said of the meeting.

‘De facto accomplices’

Zelenskyy’s visit to the United States comes as campaigning for a November presidential election that could reset Washington’s relations with Kyiv moves into high gear.

Vice President Kamala Harris is facing off against former President Donald Trump, who is seen as more of a Ukraine sceptic. Opinion polls suggest a tight race between the two.

The Ukrainian president also criticised North Korea and Iran for providing arms to Russia for the war, describing them as Moscow’s “de facto accomplices”.

Investigators have found debris from North Korean weaponry in Ukraine. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has denied claims Tehran is delivering missiles to Russia.

The issue of weapon supplies also fuelled a clash between the top diplomats of China and the US.

“North Korea and Iran are not the only ones aiding and abetting Russia,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council. “China – another permanent member of this council – is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal aggression.”

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected the accusations.

“I wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China, or attack and smear China, is irresponsible and will lead nowhere,” he told the council.

He reiterated China’s commitment to achieving peace in Ukraine and pointed to a peace proposal worked out with Brazil.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also briefed the meeting, reiterating the UN’s strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under the UN Charter.

“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – following the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol a decade ago – is a clear violation of these principles,” the UN chief said.