United Nations — Speaking in English to the 193-nation United Nations General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a pre-recorded message to a standing ovation, aside from the Russian delegation and a handful of different international locations, in the Hall full of world leaders and his personal spouse, first girl Olena Zelenska.
Zelenskyy was unable to journey to U.N. Headquarters in New York City due to the escalation in assaults by Russia. Just hours earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a big mobilization of Russian forces for the assaults in opposition to Ukraine, and started preparations for a referendum to formalize its occupation of components of Ukraine. The referendum is taken into account a sham by the U.S. and European Union.
Earlier this 12 months, the U.N. determined {that a} chief should be in the headquarters in order to converse this 12 months. But, the General Assembly voted 101-7 for an exception for Zelenskyy. The members that voted in opposition to him talking have been Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.
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“It was a vote not only about the format. It was the vote about principles,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his Wednesday speech. “Seven who are afraid of the video address. Seven who respond to principles with a red button. Only seven. One hundred and one – and seven.”
The Ukrainian president went on to element the atrocities dedicated in opposition to the nation’s civilians and requested the U.N. to maintain Russia accountable for the alleged crimes. He mentioned a household — a father, mom, a 6-year-old lady, a 8-year-old lady, and their grandparents — was killed in a Russian airstrike, and he pointed to the recently-discovered mass grave in Izyum.
Zelenskyy mentioned the U.N. ought to acknowledge Russia as “a state sponsor of terrorism.”
“After the Russian missile terror. After the massacres. After Mariupol,” he mentioned. “After the burning of Ukrainian prisoners in Olenivka by the Russian military. After blocking the ports. After the strikes of Russian tanks and missiles on nuclear power plants. And after threats to use nuclear weapons, which have become the rule, not the exception, for Russian propagandists…”
Zelenskyy outlined a plan with 5 “preconditions” for peace with Russia: punishment for aggression; safety of life; restoration of safety and territorial integrity; safety ensures; and willpower to defend oneself. He additionally known as for the U.N. to create a particular tribunal “to punish Russia for the crime of aggression against our state.”
“This will become signal to all ‘would-be’ aggressors that they must value peace or be brought to responsibility by the world,” he mentioned.
Citing the U.N. constitution, as President Biden did hours earlier, Zelenskyy requested for extra navy and monetary assist.
“We did not provoke this war,” he mentioned. “We held 88 rounds of talks in various formats to prevent this war, just from the beginning of my presidency until February 24 this year.”
But as a substitute of discovering a approach ahead, Russia, he mentioned, started a “full-scale” aggression.
“Russia wants war. It’s true. But Russia will not be able to stop the course of history. Mankind and the international law are stronger than one terrorist state,” he mentioned. “Russia will be forced to end this war. The war it has started.”
