Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Andriy Melnyk criticized the international community's inaction regarding Russia's aggression at a Security Council meeting, emphasizing that escalation by Moscow creates the threat of global war.
This is reported by Ukrinform's own correspondent in New York.
Back in February, the Security Council adopted a very brief resolution calling for a quick end to the conflict in order to achieve lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia, Melnyk recalled. He noted that Ukraine was not thrilled with this text, but - unlike Russia - respects the decision of the Security Council and is ready to implement the document.
At the same time, according to him, 201 days later, we all have to admit that peace has not come... On the contrary, we are further from peace than ever.
Melnyk stated that Moscow is deliberately spreading this fire across Europe, now launching its deadly drones into Polish airspace. In his opinion, this was a conscious decision by Russia to cross another red line and test the patience of the international community.
If this escalation remains without a decisive response, Russia will not stop at Poland, the Ukrainian diplomat warned: Tomorrow it could be drones or even missiles that will fall on other European countries. And the day after tomorrow – who knows – something could accidentally fly across the Atlantic.
The Security Council's sacred duty, he pointed out, is to prevent such a scenario before it is too late and stop this madness before it engulfs us all.
The launch of drones into Ukraine and now into Poland is not just a mockery of the Security Council, it is a spit in your face, - said Melnyk. And yet we politely pretend that it is just rain, - added the permanent representative. In his opinion, if the Security Council does not stop the new phase of Russian escalation, then we will not be talking about regional instability, but will find ourselves on the verge of World War III.
Melnyk called on UN member states, including the EU, the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, and Australia, to take coordinated sanctions action to strangle the Russian military machine, cut off its supply chains, and stop the flow of components for drones and missiles.
One day, history will knock on this door and ask: what were you doing sitting at this table when Russia trampled on the UN Charter? Did you act, or were you just clearing your throat, preparing another statement of deep concern, or were you burying your head in the sand, moving on to the next item on the agenda? - said the permanent representative of Ukraine.
He concluded his speech with a call to finally adopt a resolution on an immediate, comprehensive, and unconditional ceasefire.
As Ukrinform reported, on Friday, the UN Security Council convened for an emergency meeting at the request of Poland in connection with the violation of the country's airspace by Russian drones.
