29 May 2025
Mr. President,
I express gratitude to the Greek Presidency for convening today’s Security Council meeting and thank USG DiCarlo and OCHA’s representative Ms. Doughten for their substantive briefings.
Today is already the 1,191st day of Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian Federation’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion.
Russia’s aims remain unchanged – to subjugate Ukraine militarily, seeking control over our entire nation to further its imperialistic ambitions. Failing to achieve these objectives independently, it enlists support from authoritarian regimes such as the DPRK and Iran. Moreover, Ukrainian intelligence has confirmed that China is supplying special chemicals, gunpowder and machinery to 20 Russian military factories. This cooperation must cease immediately.
Ukraine continues to defend itself in full accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. We are grateful for the unwavering support of the European and American and other partners and allies, which bolsters our defense capabilities.
Simply put: Ukraine did not initiate this war, nor do we desire its continuation today. On its part, Russia could end its aggression at any moment, but persistently rejects all credible paths to peace.
Mr. President,
Ukraine has consistently demonstrated commitment to diplomacy and remains open to any format that can yield tangible results.
We supported the US proposal for a 30-day full interim unconditional ceasefire agreed upon in Jeddah on 11 March.
Ukraine firmly believes that at least 30-days long ceasefire must be the first step toward negotiations on just and lasting peace. We reaffirmed this proposal multiple times – but Russia consistently refuses to accept it. Russia’s actions clearly indicate its unwillingness for peace.
On 20 April, despite media reports of Russia’s alleged readiness for so-called Easter ceasefire, Russian forces carried out 1,882 shelling attacks, conducted 33 multiple-launch rocket system strikes and deployed 957 kamikaze drones against Ukraine.
Russia again declared – solely through media channels – its readiness for a ceasefire since 8 till 10 May. In practice, it launched 115 air strikes, dropped 197 guided aerial bombs, carried out 12,100 shelling attacks (including 187 by multiple-launch rocket systems) and targeted civilian infrastructure with 7,303 kamikaze drones. This is what Russia’s so-called “ceasefire” entailed.
On 10 May, Ukraine, alongside European leaders from France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, supported by the US and other partners, called Russia again to agree to a 30-day ceasefire. The collective will of Ukraine and its partners was clear: if the Russian Federation refused, robust sanctions would be imposed on Russia, particularly targeting the energy and banking sectors.
Russia’s response was to reject an unconditional ceasefire and instead demand direct negotiations with Ukraine in Türkiye.
We are not afraid of talks. We are for constructive talks. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready for a personal meeting with Putin – because only Putin decides the strategic issues of war and peace in Russia.
Our President visited Türkiye on 15 May, ready for a direct meeting – whether in Ankara or Istanbul. Putin, however, refused to attend, sending a low-level delegation lacking decision-making authority. Despite this, a high-level Ukrainian negotiating team, headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, was ready to discuss the ceasefire.
Notably, Russian delegation mostly consisted of the same individuals it had sent to Istanbul in 2022. This demonstrates that Russia has not altered its fundamental approach. Their goal is to transform the Istanbul meeting into a staged, hollow process, reminiscent of the talks in 2022. It is not Ukraine or Western leaders who are undermining negotiations, as Russia claims. It is Russia that sends delegation with no decision-making mandate, effectively nullifying the prospects of diplomacy.
The only positive result of the meeting in Istanbul is an agreed exchange of prisoners of war in the format “1000 for 1000”, implemented on 23-25 May. Overall, if one sets aside all Russian nonsense, pseudo-historical statements, provocations and the like, the Russian plan to present the Istanbul meeting as a continuation of March 2022 has failed. This is a completely new dynamic. The conditions and realities are different now.
In order to overcome the current diplomatic stalemate, there is a need for a meeting at the leaders’ level. President Zelenskyy has repeatedly reaffirmed his readiness to meet with Putin at any time and at any mutually agreeable location.
We will continue to insist on an unconditional and complete ceasefire for at least 30 days as the only viable foundation for the success of any further decisions and steps.
However, Russia is now trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupy more Ukrainian land. It continues to intimidate and terrorize Ukrainian civilians by attacking the critical infrastructure and residential areas. All of this sends a clear signal: Russia does not desire to end this war and is neither willing nor ready for genuine negotiations. Russia’s actions warrant full-scale pressure to limit its military capabilities and to push it toward real peace.
The Istanbul meeting and its follow-up cannot and will not serve as an excuse not to increase pressure on Russia. On the contrary, it is proof of why such pressure is urgently needed. The strength of this pressure is inversely proportional to the Russians’ willingness to be constructive and embark on a genuine peace process.
Mr. President,
The Russian Federation continues to escalate its brutal and systematic attacks on civilians across Ukraine. Day and night, Ukraine endures relentless waves of deadly drone and missile strikes.
In May, their scale and intensity have reached unprecedented levels of devastation.
On 24 and 25 May, the Russian Federation executed one of the largest combined assaults since the onset of its full-scale aggression – launching 83 missiles of various types and 548 drones against civilian targets across Ukraine.
The attacks killed at least 12 civilians and injured dozens of others. In the Zhytomyr region, an airstrike on a residential neighborhood killed three siblings from one family – 8-year-old Stanislav, 12-year-old Tamara and 17-year-old Roman.
On 26 May, Russia launched its largest drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, using 355 attack drones, along with 9 cruise missiles targeting civilian areas, again killing and injuring civilians and damaging or destroying residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
In just these three days, Russia launched over 900 attack drones, along with ballistic and cruise missiles.
Russian terror against civilians continues every single day. Today, Russia launched an airstrike on the village in the Zaporizhzhia region, using guided bombs. The attack killed at least two civilians and injured three others. More than 50 homes are damaged, and five were destroyed. Nearly 600 households lost electricity.
These strikes lack military logic. The aggressor state is gaining nothing. They are clearly intended to terrorize the civilian population, inflict widespread destruction and reflect a blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and a profound contempt for diplomacy. They also represent a deliberate political decision – Putin’s decision – to continue his war of aggression.
Each such terrorist attack justifies the imposition of new, strengthened sanctions against the Russian Federation. The silence of the international community only emboldens Putin.
These ongoing attacks underscore the urgent need for continued and expanded support to protect Ukrainian civilians from indiscriminate violence. We are deeply grateful to every partner and ally assisting Ukraine in strengthening its air defense capabilities. The timely delivery of air defense systems saves lives.
Ukraine welcomes the recent report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which for the first time documents Russia’s systematic drone attacks against civilians in the Kherson region. This inhumane tactic of terror has continued for a long time and must not go unpunished.
Threats to Ukraine’s civilian population represent a new and troubling aspect of modern warfare, potentially setting a precedent for future full-scale conflicts. A defining feature is the constant, direct threat of missile and long-range drone attacks across the entire country, even in regions over a thousand kilometers from the frontline. This sustained threat not only endangers civilian lives but also severely impacts the psychological, security and socio-economic well-being of the population. It is an integral element of Russia’s military strategy that must be duly addressed within the UN broader efforts and discussions on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
Mr. President,
Let’s remind that thousands of Ukrainians – both civilians and military personnel – remain imprisoned in the Russian Federation or in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Many were captured before 2022. They continue to be subjected to torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and conflict-related sexual violence, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law. Russia continues to return Ukrainians in a highly selective and arbitrary manner.
Ukraine demands immediate and unconditional stop of all torture and ill-treatment of detainees and full adherence to the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners, as well as compliance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the Bangkok Rules, which set gender-specific standards for the treatment of women in detention.
Mr. President,
The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains critically difficult, where all the “seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict” continue to be systematically violated.
Moscow blatantly disregards international diplomatic efforts, including by the United States, aimed at ending Russia’s war of aggression and ensuring global nuclear safety.
According to Greenpeace, Russia is building a new high-voltage power line in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region to illegally connect ZNPP to the Russian power grid.
Let me stress that disconnecting the ZNPP from Ukraine`s power grid significantly increases the risks – in the event of an emergency, the plant could lose its last reliable source of external power. This is a direct path to a station blackout with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Furthermore, Moscow’s policy of blackmail and demonstrative disregard for international law forced the IAEA to conduct a second rotation through the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
We insist that, despite Russian pressure, the IAEA remains committed to the principles of international law, in particular the inviolability of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and does not recognize any changes in jurisdiction over the ZNPP.
Ukraine urges the IAEA and international community to respond to these actions by the Russian Federation decisively. The rotation of IAEA personnel should be carried out exclusively through the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine, until the ZNPP is fully returned to its rightful owner, Ukraine.
Mr. President,
Achieving peace at any cost will not end the war. A comprehensive, just and lasting peace must rest on a fundamental respect towards non-negotiable principles.
We repeat, Ukraine will never accept and recognize any part of its temporarily occupied territory as Russian. We will not tolerate interference in sovereign decisions, including our defense or alliances. There must be no appeasement of the aggressor – such attempts only embolden future aggression.
Russia is not signaling any genuine intention to stop its war. Therefore, we see no alternative but intensified international pressure – political, military and economic. Sanctions must be expanded and strengthened. Russian oil, its shadow tanker fleet, financial networks and its military industry must all be targeted.
Russia is facing a moment when it needs to prove its seriousness. We need concrete decisions – first and foremost, regarding an unconditional and complete ceasefire for at least 30 days. Ukraine is ready to work for peace. Russia must also show that it is ready.
As a confidence-building measure, we propose the immediate and unconditional return of all abducted Ukrainian children, prisoners of war, and detained civilians.
For peace to endure, justice must prevail. We welcome progress by the Core Group on establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Technical work on the necessary legal instruments is complete.
Mr. President,
At the heart of global peace and security lies the Charter of the United Nations. Upholding it – is not optional – it is our collective duty. That is the standard by which each member of this Council, and indeed the international community, will be judged.
Yet today, we witness a grave distortion of that duty. The Russian Federation, still present in the Soviet permanent seat, is using its status not to preserve peace, but to shield its war of aggression against Ukraine. This abuse strikes at the core of the international system we are all meant to uphold.
Ukraine, for its part, seeks a just and lasting peace – one rooted in the principles of the UN Charter and reinforced by binding, long-term security guarantees.
Peace cannot rest on words alone, and particularly because words do not work with Moscow. It requires concrete steps: an immediate and just ceasefire; sustained diplomatic engagement; and the establishment of a credible security architecture centered around effective security guarantees for Ukraine that will prevent the recurrence of aggression.
This is why Ukraine is working with all partners – the United States, the European Union and all international partners – to build a broad-based, principled coalition for peace. But to succeed, the international community must act with unity and resolve. Now is not the time for hesitation. Now is the time to increase coordinated pressure – not merely to influence the course of Russia’s war of aggression, but to bring it to a close, and to secure peace for all our future generations.
Thank you.