President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of committing “genocide” in Ukraine on Tuesday at the UN, seeking to rally sometimes skeptical southern countries to his cause by telling them they too had an interest in victory. from Kiev.
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, where he also denounced the makes Russia use food and nuclear energy “as a weapon” which impacts Ukraine as well as “the rest of the world”.
He further invited world leaders opposed to Russian aggression to help him prepare “a peace summit”.
“For the first time in modern history, we have the opportunity to put an end to this aggression on the terms of the attacked country,” he said.
Dressed as usual in military fatigues, Mr. 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 and let it brutalize Ukraine without consequences”.
“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.
Mr. Zelensky further warned that Russia’s neighbors were on the front line. “Russia has practically swallowed Belarus. It obviously threatens Kazakhstan and the Baltic States,” he said.
On the sidelines of this annual high mass, the American president had a rare meeting with the leaders of five Central Asian countries, emphasizing “the shared principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.
“These principles matter today more than ever,” he assured.
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 “There will be no winners in war and no losers in peace.”
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, while South African Cyril Ramaphosa similarly denounced the sums spent on war rather than on financing the development of more developed countries. vulnerable.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi, whose country is an ally of Moscow, accused the United States of “throwing fuel on the fire” in the conflict in Ukraine.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres painted a very gloomy picture of a “turned upside down world”, where geopolitical tensions “are worsening” and global warming “most directly compromises our future”.
Symbol of this “compilation” of crises, the floods of Derna in Libya, “sad snapshot of the state of our world, carried away by the torrent of inequalities and injustices, and paralyzed in the face of the challenges to be taken up”, he said. he lamented.
The thousands of people who lost their lives “were victims of several scourges. Victims of years of conflict. Victims of climate chaos. Victims of leaders, who, there and elsewhere, failed to find the path to peace “.
As a prelude to the General Assembly on Monday, developing countries reminded the rest of the world of their promises to improve the lot of humanity by 2030, insisting in particular on a reform of the international financial architecture.
A request made repeatedly by Antonio Guterres, who sees it as a reason for the fragmentation of the world.
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.
20/09/2023 01:01:07 – United Nations (United States) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP