UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Ukraine’s foreign minister on Friday told skeptics who believe Ukraine cannot win a war with Russia that they will be proven wrong. He said he was deaf.
Dmytro Kuleba spoke at the United Nations on the eve of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion, appealing to countries around the world to support Ukraine. Victory will then come “sooner or later,” he said.
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Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, reiterated Russia’s claim that the conflict was not started by Russia. He accused the West of instigating it, accused Ukraine of becoming an instrument of Western geopolitical ambitions, and said Russia’s “special military operation” would not end until its goals were achieved. I swore.
These goals, stated on February 24, 2022, the day Russian troops crossed the border, include the demilitarization of Ukraine and ensuring its “state of neutrality.”
The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council are holding ministerial meetings to mark the anniversary, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleads for more U.S. military aid and Russian forces make new inroads in eastern Ukraine. A meeting is being held.
The UN General Assembly has become the most important UN body dealing with Ukraine, as the Security Council, which is tasked with maintaining international peace and security, is paralyzed by Russia’s veto. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they serve as a barometer of world opinion.
Addressing the 193-member parliament, Kuleba recalled that more than 140 countries supported Ukraine and supported a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops. However, he said, “Moscow’s objective is to destroy Ukraine, and they are quite outspoken about that.”
He said countries currently insisting Ukraine should negotiate with Russia to end the war are either “ill-informed” or that they are not aware of what happened in 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea and supported an armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine. He said that he either did not follow the events that followed. According to him, the two countries have held about 200 rounds of negotiations and concluded 20 ceasefire agreements.
“All these peace efforts ended two years ago when Russia tore apart the Minsk process and launched a full-scale invasion,” Kuleba said. “Why would someone today suggest that following the same logic would yield different results?”
Mr Kuleba said Mr Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan was “the only serious peace plan on the table” and called on other countries to give it diplomatic weight. The plan calls for the expulsion of Russian troops, the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, and the creation of a Euro-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine.
Kleba told reporters he wanted to make one thing clear. When Russia invaded, diplomats and experts did not believe that Ukraine would survive.
“Today, the same people do not believe that Ukraine can win this war,” he said. “They did the wrong thing once and will do the wrong thing again. Ukraine survived the invasion. Ukraine will win the war. And if we act collectively and jointly, this will happen sooner rather than later. It will happen sooner or later.”
Mr. Nebenzia condemned Mr. Zelensky’s plan.
“This is nothing but an ultimatum to Russia and an attempt to lure as many countries as possible into endless meetings on this utopian project at any cost,” he said. .
There was strong support for Ukraine at the General Assembly, where representatives from 64 countries were scheduled to speak.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he recognized there was war fatigue and compromise might seem attractive, but Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not seeking compromise.
“Rather, this is a neo-imperialist bully who believes that force is right,” he said. “If Putin achieves some kind of victory, the rest of the world will also suffer. What begins in Ukraine will not end there.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told parliament: “Only our determination can stop the neo-imperialist delusions that could arise in any part of the world.”
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“We need to stay the course until Putin understands that the era of European imperialism is completely over,” he said.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said his government would hold a high-level peace conference by the summer at Ukraine’s request. He called on all countries to join and work “to find common ground for peace” based on the United Nations Charter and Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
