Status: 08/25/2022 02:43 am
At the meeting of the UN Security Council in view of the six-month war in Ukraine, the deep rifts in the body were once again revealed.
“Today marks a sad and tragic milestone. Six months have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council.
The fact that Russia’s war of aggression has now lasted six months was one reason for the special session of the UN body. The second is the Independence Day of Ukraine. Despite the grain export deal negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv at the end of July, Guterres has no hope of an early end to the war. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield made it even clearer:
Six months later, it’s clearer than ever what Russia intends to do – namely to erase Ukraine from the geopolitical map.
Selenskyj again warns of accidents at nuclear power plants
Therefore, Russia must be stopped – and held accountable for the crimes against Ukraine, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. And he once again drew attention to the fatal situation surrounding the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia:
Russia has brought the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe. The fact is that they have turned Europe’s largest nuclear power plant into a war zone.
Selenskyj was connected to the committee via video. Russia had previously failed in an attempt to prevent precisely this video speech. The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebensia, justified his objection by saying that Zelenskyy had to be present in person – and not virtually. This is remarkable, because time and again people take part in meetings of the Security Council via video.
UN urges access to nuclear power plant
In his speech, Nebensia once again blamed Ukraine for the war. And he renewed the accusation that Ukrainians would attack the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling the facility.
The UN is still trying to gain access to the nuclear power plant so that a commission of experts can inspect damage to the plant. For this to happen, however, there would have to be at least a ceasefire in the region. But: Not only has the nuclear power plant become a war zone – energy is being used as a weapon, according to Ukrainian President Selenskyj:
It is a fact that Russia is deliberately trying to plunge tens of millions of people into energy poverty, depriving them of normal access to basic goods by deliberately raising energy prices.
“People need peace”
The trenches could hardly have been deeper than at this meeting. According to UN Secretary-General Guterres, thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded in the Ukraine war, including hundreds of children. The world had seen serious violations of international law, houses had been destroyed, and millions of people’s foodstuffs were endangered – and that was just a few months before winter. Therefore there can only be one goal:
People in and beyond Ukraine need peace – and they need peace now.
UN Security Council on Ukrainian Independence Day
Anne Schneider, ARD New York, 8/25/2022 12:52 a.m