The general secretary of the UN, Anthony Guterreshe stated on Wednesday during the opening of the general Assembly of the organization that the world faces “a moment of danger” due to the crisis in Ukrainewhose government claimed Moscow a rapid withdrawal of his troops.
For Guterres, moreover, “the decision to Russia to recognize the so-called “independence” of the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk —and subsequent actions— are violations of the territorial integrity and ukrainian sovereignty and are incompatible with the principles of the UN Charter”.
Subsequently, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister took the floor, Dmytro Kulebawho stressed that Ukraine he was not a threat to Russia.
“Ukraine has never planned and is not planning any military operations in Donbas,” he said of Russian allegations of Kyiv military actions in that eastern region in which these enclaves are located pro-Russian separatists.
Kuleba called on the UN to take “concrete and rapid measures” to stop the escalation, which he says is fueled by the military advance of Russian troops.
“The start of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it,” Kuleba warned, stressing “We want peace!”
refugee crisis
Ukraine is surrounded to the north, south and east by 150,000 Russian soldiers in what Western powers consider an “invasion” strategy by Moscow.
Russia announced the mobilization of troops, which it described as “peace corps”, towards the two separatist enclaves, whose disputed independence it recognized on Tuesday and which it considered to be being attacked by Kiev.
For her part, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfieldstressed that “if Russia continues down this path, it could — according to our estimates — create a new refugee crisisone of the largest in the world today, with up to 5 million more people displaced by the war chosen by Russia and its pressure on Ukraine’s neighbors.”
According to the American, “because Ukraine is one of the world’s largest suppliers of wheat, particularly to the developing world, Russia’s actions could cause food prices to skyrocket and cause an even more desperate famine than in places like Libya, Yemen and Lebanon.
Previously, his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenziastated that the current situation is the result of the “2014 coup d’état” that led to a change of power in Ukraine with the forced departure of a pro-Russian government.
Since then, Kiev has carried out a “repression” against the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine, he denounced, even evoking the term “genocide” used by the Russian president. Vladimir Putin in his last speeches.
Pressure on Moscow
Moscow’s actions have been met with a wave of sanctions announced by United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union.
In the UN Assemblymost speakers, representing all continents, criticized, some more openly than others, Russia’s recent decisions and actions.
The meeting of the General Assembly attended by the 193 members of the UN, is an annual session to discuss the “temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”, held since the annexation of crimea by Russia in 2014. This meeting will last all day.
Guterres, who was not originally scheduled to attend, decided to do so after rushing back to New York and canceling a trip to Africa.
This Wednesday, Ukraine He also denounced a massive cyberattack that affected the main government websites.