the ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged on Tuesday UN Security Council to act “immediately” in the face of the “war crimes” committed, according to him, by Russia and asked to exclude this country from the organization because otherwise it will have to “close”.
Following a solemn video speech broadcast live in the Security Council chamber, Zelensky had a video released with harsh images of people in civilian clothes killed in Ukraine.
Zelensky compared the violence in the city of Bucha, where dozens of bodies were found in recent days, with the violent acts committed “by terrorists like Daesh”, an acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State group, but “perpetrated by a member of the UN Security Council”.
He also called for Russia to be excluded from this body, of which it is one of the five permanent members, and for a reform of the United Nations system so that “the right to veto does not mean the right to die.”
“Now we need Security Council decisions for peace in Ukraine. If they don’t know how to make this decision, they can do two things,” he said.
“Exclude Russia as the aggressor and the one who started the war so that it does not block decisions related to its own aggression. And then do everything possible to achieve peace,” Zelensky said in the presence of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
“Either the other option is to please show that we can reform or change (…) If there is no alternative and option, the next option would be to dissolve completely,” the Ukrainian president demanded.
This session of the Security Council had been scheduled for a long time and was chaired by the British ambassador.
solely for your pleasure
In the Ukraine, Zelensky said, “they killed people in their apartments, in their houses with grenades, they crushed civilians with tanks when they were inside their cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure.”
“They tore limbs apart, throats were cut. Women were raped and killed in front of their children,” he said from a white-walled office with a Ukrainian flag in the background.
These actions demonstrate that “now the Charter of the United Nations is literally violatedsince his first article,” said Zelensky, who called for Russia to be “held accountable” for “the worst war crimes” committed, according to him, since World War II.
“If this continues, countries will only be able to rely on the power of their own forces to guarantee security, and no longer on international law, on international institutions,” and the United Nations “will have to close.”
“We must restore the UN Charter immediately,” he asked.
The Ukrainian president also denounced the “colonization” of Russia.
“They need our wealth, our people. Russia has already deported tens of thousands of our citizens to their country. Later? Hundreds. They have kidnapped more than 2,000 children,” added the Ukrainian president. “Russia wants to turn Ukrainians into silent slaves.”
Following this statement and the release of a video of “terrifying images”, in the words of the British ambassador Barbara Woodward, the Russian representative to the Security Council responded to the Ukrainian president.
“We did not come to Ukraine to conquer territories,” Vasili Nebenzia said, once again rejecting accusations that the Russian army committed atrocities.
“You have seen dead bodies and heard testimonies, but you have only seen what they showed you. You cannot ignore the glaring inconsistencies in the version of events promoted by the Ukrainian and Western media.”
He added that his country has evacuated “600,000 people” from Ukraine, including “more than 119,000 children.” “And we’re not talking, in any way, (of people leaving) under duress or kidnapping, as our Western partners describe it, but voluntary decisions,” she said.