Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky launched a violent diatribe against Moscow on Tuesday, September 19, from the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York. Russia’s deportation of “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian children is “clearly genocide,” the Ukrainian president has accused. “We know the names of tens of thousands of children and have evidence of hundreds of thousands more kidnapped by Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine and then deported,” he denounced.
“We’re trying to get these kids home, but time is running out. What will happen to them? In Russia, they are taught hatred of Ukraine, and all ties with their families are cut. This is clearly a genocide,” denounced the president, under the eyes of the deputy ambassador to the UN for Russia, Dmitry Polyanskiy, present at the Russian table. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for the “illegal deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children since February 2022. Accusations rejected by Moscow.
In a speech that was applauded several times, the president also criticized the fact that Russia holds a nuclear arsenal. “Terrorists have no right to possess nuclear weapons,” he insisted. “Russia is using the price of food (…) and nuclear energy as a weapon,” he also accused.
“I invite you all – all those who do not tolerate any aggression – to jointly prepare for this summit”
The Ukrainian president finally reiterated that his country was preparing a “world peace summit”, to which he wants to invite all the world’s leaders opposed to Russia’s “aggression” of Ukraine.
“Important discussions and exchanges took place in Hiroshima, Copenhagen and Jeddah on the implementation of a peace plan. And we are preparing a world peace summit. I invite you all – all those who do not tolerate any aggression – to jointly prepare for this summit,” Mr. Zelensky insisted in his speech.
Ukraine launched a dialogue on its president’s ten-point peace plan by holding meetings in June and August in Copenhagen and then in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, attended by representatives from dozens of countries.
In the morning, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, castigated Russia, which “believes that the world will tire and let it brutalize Ukraine without consequences”. “If we let Ukraine be dismembered, is the independence of nations still guaranteed? The answer is no,” he insisted, to applause from the Ukrainian president and the audience.
In 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky was exceptionally authorized to intervene by video message. This time, he was present in person, for this annual high mass where he spoke in the middle of the day, before participating in a special meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday, and leaving for Washington, where he will be received at the White House, Thursday.
