10 October 2022
[ As delivered]
Excellencies,
The war in Ukraine should have been never started. But it will end one day.
Guns will be silent.
But when? At what cost?
How many people will have died? How many families separated? How much more suffering endured?
What will Ukraine look like when peace returns?
What will the world look like?
Столько жизней потеряно. Столько всего разрушено. В этой войне не будет победителей – проигрывают все.
(Russian translation: So many lives lost. So many livelihoods destroyed. This war will have no winners – everyone is losing.)
Les prix de l’alimentaire sont en flambée.
La faim et la famine menacent des communautés dans le monde entier.
(French translation : Food prices are soaring. Hunger and famine are threatening communities all around the world.)
I thank the Secretary-General for leading on the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
وَقَدْ أَدَّتْ هَذِهِ اَلصَّفْقَةِ اَلَّتِي تَوَسَّطَتْ فِيهَا اَلْأُمَمُ اَلْمُتَّحِدَةُ إِلَى تَحْرِيرِ سِتَّةِ مَلَايِينِ طُنٍّ عَلَى اَلْأَقَلِّ مِنْ اَلْمَوَادِّ اَلْغِذَائِيَّةِ. أَكْثَرَ مِنْ رُبْعِهَا يَذْهَبُ مُبَاشَرَةِ إِلَى اَلدُّوَلِ ذَاتِ اَلدَّخْلِ اَلْمُنْخَفِضِ.
(Arabic translation: This UN-brokered deal has freed up at least six million tons of food.
More than a quarter going directly to low-income countries.)
We shall act together to achieve the full implementation of this Initiative.
And it is imperative that we secure its renewal beyond mid-November.
Excellencies,
As if the horrors in Ukraine were not enough, we are forced to live with the constant fear of a nuclear disaster.
I commend the work of the IAEA to ensure the safety of nuclear plants in the war zone.
The IAEA has warned there is “playing with fire.”
When it comes to nuclear issues, any irresponsible action or statement is unacceptable.
And any threat of using nuclear weapons should be universally condemned.
The UN Charter is clear.
The General Assembly has been clear.
The Secretary-General has been clear.
Aggression is illegal.
The GA Resolution of 14 December 1974 defines aggression as the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State. This act is called as inconsistent with the Charter.
Invading a neighbor is illegal.
Article 4 of the UN Charter states that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”.
Annexing territories of other countries by force is illegal.
The GA Resolution of 24 October 1970, the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States has reinforced that the territory of a State shall not be the object of acquisition by another State resulting from the threat or use of force. It is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter.
And as the Secretary-General pointed out, the “referenda” in the occupied regions “cannot be called a genuine expression of the popular will.”
When it becomes a daily routine to watch images of destroyed cities and scattered bodies, we lose our humanity.
We must find a political solution based on the UN Charter and the international law.
We need to keep the door open for diplomacy.
The fighting between Russia and Ukraine must stop.
As the General Assembly has decided in its resolution adapted on March 2, 2022, “troops of the Russian Federation must be withdrawn from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”.
What is the alternative?
A world without shared rules. A world without peace. A world without future.
We must recommit to the values, principles and purposes of the Charter.
If we want to move forward as a global community, we must provide answers.
The world is looking to us.
Thank you.