“Russia can only be forced to peace, and that is exactly what must be done: to force Russia to peace,” Volodymyr Zelensky said at the UN on Tuesday, September 24. At a meeting of the organization’s Security Council, the new French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, reiterated France’s support for Ukraine.
Key information to remember
⇒ Zelensky spoke before the UN Security Council
⇒ Ukrainian President to Present Biden with “Victory Plan” on Thursday
⇒ France reiterates its support for Ukraine
Zelensky urges Security Council to ‘force’ Russia to peace
Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, September 24, urged the UN Security Council to force Russia to make peace with kyiv. “Russia can only be forced to peace, and that is exactly what must be done: to force Russia to peace,” he said.
The Ukrainian president, who hopes that the UN Charter will ultimately prevail to “end” the war, has immediately demanded from the West more air defense systems and long-range missiles to better defend his cities against daily Russian attacks.
While the UN General Assembly is focused on the Middle East, Zelensky, who arrived in the United States on Sunday, wants to keep international attention on the fate of his country ravaged by war for two and a half years. For his part, the Russian ambassador to the UN Vassili Nebenzia retorted that “the Western countries (had) not been able to stop themselves from poisoning the atmosphere once again, by trying to occupy airtime with the hackneyed question of Ukraine.”
Iran and North Korea singled out
During his speech, Zelensky accused Iran and North Korea of aiding Moscow’s war machine. “Russia has no legitimate reason – absolutely none – to make Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices in its criminal war in Europe, with their weapons that are killing us, that are killing Ukrainians,” said the head of state turned warlord since the invasion of his country in February 2022.
At the Council session, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community to act to denounce Tehran and Pyongyang’s military aid to Moscow. This allows President Vladimir Putin to “inflict carnage, suffering and ruin on innocent Ukrainian men, women and children,” the US Secretary of State insisted.
His Chinese counterpart Wang Yi assured that Beijing was “not a party” to the conflict. “China did not cause the Ukrainian crisis and is not participating in it either. China has always stood on the side of peace,” he said, rejecting American accusations of Chinese support for Russia. “Any attempt to shift the blame onto China or to attack China or sully its reputation is irresponsible and will go nowhere,” he warned.
France reiterates its support for Ukraine
France, through its new Minister of Foreign Affairs, reiterated its unwavering support for Ukraine before the UN Security Council. Peace “cannot take the form of a capitulation by the aggressor because there is indeed an aggressor and an aggressed party,” declared Jean-Noël Barrot. A peace agreement between Moscow and kyiv must be concluded “on the sole basis of international law while respecting” the territorial integrity of Ukraine, insisted the Frenchman who met his Ukrainian counterpart at the UN.
Banking on the “weariness” and “demobilization” of France “will remain a bad calculation for Russia,” he further warned, assuring Ukraine of France’s unwavering support to lead it to victory, repeating that “the Russian war of aggression” was “also a war against the international order.” “Accepting the Russian fait accompli would mean accepting the consecration of the law of the strongest. It would mean leaving the door open to other border changes by force. It would mean renouncing the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he also declared.