António Guterres

• UN Secretary-General called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine an “affront” to the world’s collective conscience.
• The assembly was debating a motion supported by Ukraine.
• The Kremlin has accused the West of seeking to destabilize Russia at any cost.

At a General Assembly meeting nearly a year later, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine an “affront” to the world’s collective conscience.

The assembly was debating a motion supported by Ukraine and its allies calling for Russia to withdraw quickly and unconditionally.

Ukraine expects that countries will demonstrate unity by supporting the motion.

The Kremlin has accused the West of seeking to destabilize Russia at any cost.

The Kremlin’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, stated that the US and its allies were willing to plunge the entire globe into war.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin dispatched up to 200,000 troops into Ukraine in the largest European invasion since World War II’s end.

According to the UN, the ensuing war has killed at least 7,199 people and injured thousands more, while Russia and Ukraine have each had at least 100,000 servicemen killed or injured, according to the US military.

Almost 13 million individuals have been made refugees or relocated within Ukraine.

Mr Putin’s argument that his operation was needed to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine, a country with historic ties to Russia, was derided as a cover for an unprovoked attack by Ukraine and its supporters.

“That invasion is an affront to our collective conscience,” Mr. Guterres told the General Assembly. “It is a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.”

The possible consequences of a “spiraling conflict” were, he said, a “clear and present danger”.

Mr. Guterres said the war was “fanning regional instability and fuelling global tensions and divisions, while diverting attention and resources from other crises and pressing global issues”.

There had, he said, been “implicit threats to use nuclear weapons”.

“It is high time to step back from the brink,” he said.

“Complacency will only deepen the crisis, while further eroding our shared principles proclaimed in the Charter. War is not the solution. War is the problem. People in Ukraine are suffering enormously. Ukrainians, Russians, and people far beyond need peace.”

Sixty countries have sponsored the resolution, which stresses “the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Mr. Guterres was responding after Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech in which he blamed the West for the war.

Mr. Putin announced Russia’s decision to suspend a major nuclear armaments deal in his address to the country on Tuesday, after US President Joe Biden, fresh from a surprise visit to Kyiv, commended Western democracy for standing up to Russian aggression.

Mr. Biden has described the decision to suspend the treaty, which was established by the US and Russia in 2010 to prevent nuclear war, as a major blunder.

On Wednesday, Mr. Putin visited China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, in Moscow and said co-operation with Beijing was “extremely vital to stabilize the world situation”. The visit effectively ended China’s claim to neutrality in the war.

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