Sep 25, 2024 - 03:07
By apnews.com

Ukraine’s president calls for unspecified global ‘action’ to force Russia into peace

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine’s president dismissed the notion of peace talks with Moscow on Tuesday, calling instead for unspecified global “action” to force Russia into peace for invading his country and to comply with the U.N. Charter’s requirement that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committing “an international crime” and has broken so many international rules that he won’t stop on his own.

“And that’s why this war can’t simply fade away. That’s why this war can’t be calmed by talks,” Zelenskyy said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly. “Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed — forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the U.N. Charter.”

The high-level meeting on the more than 2½-year war in Ukraine was attended by ministers from 14 of the council’s 15 member nations. Russia chose to send its lower-level U.N. ambassador.

Vassily Nebenzia opened the meeting protesting that Zelenskyy was being given the U.N. spotlight again. He also criticized Slovenia — which holds the rotating council presidency this month — for allowing the Ukrainian leader’s “chorus” to speak. He meant about 10 European Union and NATO members who aren’t on the council but march “in lockstep” every time they come to the council “to malign the Russian Federation.”

“When it comes to listening to these hackneyed statements, and these cookie-cutter statements, we have no intention of wasting time on that,” Nebenzia said.