War in Ukraine: Russia’s deportation of thousands of children is “genocide”, accuses Zelensky

2023-09-20 04:41:46

A year ago, during this same meeting, he was exceptionally able to speak on video. This time, in person, President Volodymyr Zelensky launched, this Tuesday, at the UN a violent diatribe against Moscow accused of “genocide” in Ukraine, while his American counterpart Joe Biden called on all countries to “stand up against Russian aggression.

Russia’s deportation of “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian children is “clearly a genocide”, he accused from the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York, also denouncing the fact that the Russia uses food and nuclear energy “as a weapon”.

⚡️Ukrainian President #Zelensky is speaking at the UN General Assembly right now.

“History shows that Russia deserved nuclear disarmament the most back in the 1990s. And Russia deserves it now. Terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons,” Zelensky said. pic.twitter.com/u6WhI9cueZ

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) September 19, 2023

“Terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons,” he said, while inviting world leaders opposed to Russian aggression to help him prepare “a peace summit” . Zelensky was applauded at length upon his entry into the enclosure, under the eyes of the Russian deputy ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy, present at the Russian table.

In the morning, US President Joe Biden castigated Russia for “believing that the world will tire of it and let it brutalize Ukraine without consequence”. “If we allow Ukraine to be dismembered, is the independence of nations still guaranteed? The answer is no,” he insisted, to the applause of the Ukrainian president and the audience. The latter will participate in a special meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday and will leave for Washington where he will be received at the White House on Thursday.

Peace and dialogue mentioned by Lula and Erdogan

Since the Russian invasion, an overwhelming majority of countries have adopted several resolutions at the UN General Assembly supporting Ukraine and its territorial integrity or calling for Russian withdrawal. But after a year and a half of war with cascading impacts on the world, particularly on food security, certain countries of the South are pleading for a diplomatic solution.

“We will intensify our efforts to end the war through diplomacy and dialogue, on the basis of the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” launched Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stressing that “war will have no winners and peace no losers”.

In Ukraine, “no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue,” insisted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is due to meet Wednesday with Volodymyr Zelensky. “A lot has been invested in weapons and very little in development,” he lamented.

Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed financial sanctions on Russia nor agreed to supply weapons to Kiev and the country is trying to position itself, like China, as a mediator. “I am aware that for certain leaders, it is important to find a peaceful solution,” noted the President of the European Council Charles Michel on Monday. But “for this peace to be lasting, it must respect the principles” of the UN, he said.

Apart from the United States, no other permanent member of the Security Council (France, United Kingdom, China, Russia) is represented at the highest level. Absences that some diplomats see as a bad sign for the UN.