Kiev before the UN: “If Ukraine does not survive, international peace will not survive either”

Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador, delivered a strong message to the UN during the extraordinary emergency session of the General Assembly that will decide whether or not to condemn the invasion of Eastern Europe. “If Ukraine does not survive, international peace will not survive either, and let us not be surprised if democracy fails,” the representative assured.

“Save the United Nations, save democracy and defend the values ​​we believe in” Kyslytsya added. This request was joined by Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, who also launched a petition during the meeting that brought together the 193 members of the organization: “Enough is enough! The fighting must stop,” he said.

The draft resolution that will be put to a vote in the Assembly is entitled “Russia‘s unprovoked armed aggression against Ukraine” and is promoted by the Europeans in coordination with Kiev. “It condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” according to information obtained by AFP.

The text is similar to the one presented by the United States and Albania and which was rejected by a Russian veto in the Security Council on Friday. Since it calls for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and the end of the fighting, its authors hope to exceed a hundred favorable votes in the Assembly, where there is no right of veto.

According to the diplomats, the special session of the General Assembly, which has occurred about a dozen times in the history of the UN, will be a barometer of the evolution of the world. Also, “war is not the answer,” Guterres recalled before stressing that “we need peace now.”

It is important to emphasize that in the Security Council, the African and Latin American countries (Mexico and Brazil) supported the denunciation of the invasion formulated by the United States and Europe. In the General Assembly, on the other hand, countries that usually back Moscow — Syria, Cuba, China, India, Venezuela, Nicaragua, for example — are expected to support the policy or abstain from voting.

Faced with Russia’s behavior —with tens of thousands of soldiers in Ukraine and its surroundings, with tanks, warplanes and ships—, the UN accuses Moscow of violating Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, which requires its members to abstain from any threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

Source-larepublica.pe