NEW YORK (Dagbladet): The Security Council meets on Wednesday for an open discussion on the Ukraine war, with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the list of participants.
In advance, there was great excitement about the two staying in the same room, but according to The Washington Post, Zelensky left the UN headquarters after his speech earlier in the afternoon.
A Dagbladet correspondent on the scene also reported that Zelensky kept watch over the square.
STACK: President Volodymyr Zelensky left UN headquarters after his speech at the Security Council, the Washington Post reported. Photo: Justin Lin/EPA/NTB
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Russia had previously objected to giving Ukraine time to speak early in the meeting, resulting in a ten-minute delay.
At approximately 19:00 Norwegian time, it was the turn of the Russian Foreign Minister to address the Assembly.
Here, as usual, Lavrov criticized the West.
ON MOBILE: Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergei Kyslytsya used Lavrov’s speech to check his mobile phone at the UN Security Council on Wednesday evening. Photograph: Mary Altafer/AP/NTB
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Lavrov said that the West is responsible for the increasing risk of global conflict.
He also accused the United States and its allies of interfering in Ukrainian politics since the fall of the Soviet Union, and of trying to impose pro-Western policies on the leadership in Kiev.
Lavrov also accused NATO of refusing to participate in the talks that could have avoided a tense situation in Europe, Reuters wrote.
The Russian Foreign Minister left the meeting immediately after giving his speech. According to a New York Times reporter inside the hall, Ukrainian representatives sat looking at documents and their phones while Lavrov was giving his speech, and did not pay him any attention too much.
Criticizes the United Nations
Zelensky said in his speech that Ukraine has the right to exercise self-defense.
Helping Ukraine with weapons, sanctions against Russia and voting for a UN resolution helps defend the UN Charter, Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president criticized the United Nations’ inability to act against Russia, which has a permanent seat and veto power in the Security Council.
Arrival: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives at UN headquarters on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Raya
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– “It should be possible to suspend the veto,” Zelensky said.
– I understand that Zelensky is behaving this way, but it is not realistic to achieve UN reform without Russia’s participation. It was a strong message from Zelensky that he wants reform. Representing the countries of the Global South more strongly shows that he is very keen to communicate more broadly,” Annekin Hoitfeldt told Dagbladet’s correspondent immediately after the speech.
Face to face: President Zelensky sits across from Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia. Image: NTP
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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for his peace plan to be shared publicly if he has a way to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, according to reports. CNN.
The former US president claimed that he would be able to reach an agreement between Zelensky and Putin within 24 hours.
But Zelensky says it is out of the question whether the plan includes Ukraine giving up the territory.
CLOSE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks directly at Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia during his speech Wednesday at the Security Council. Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar
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– The gates of hell opened
Wednesday is also the UN climate summit.
– Humanity’s dependence on fossil energy has opened the gates of hell, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the opening speech.
In his speech, he referred to the “terrible heat” and historic fires as a result of climate change.
Speaker: UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Photo: UN Mission Norway/Pontus Hoek/NTB
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-The future is not fixed. The UN Secretary-General said it is up to leaders like you to write it.
– At its most brutal
World leaders will meet this week at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
There they will discuss, among other things, the consequences of climate change, the growing disparity between rich and poor, and solutions to wars – including Russia’s war of invasion against Ukraine.
The General Assembly met on Tuesday to discuss threats to international peace and security.
It was Russia that requested the meeting, as they wanted, among other things, to address the issue of Western arms supplies to Ukraine.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly that the war “raised a long series of concerns,” warning that the world desperately needs Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizer to stabilize markets and ensure food security, before adding:
– I will not give up my efforts to achieve this.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Sture was also present along with several ministers.
– I think it is a war that will last a long time, and it can go through different stages – and it is now at its most brutal, Sture told Dagbladet on his way on Tuesday.
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