Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Thursday.
Zelensky opened his speech by reiterating UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s call, “It’s time to wake up!,” and mentioned that this is special for him, since “every night before the UN General Assembly is a sleepless night for Ukraine.”
He also talked about the assassination attempt on his top adviser, Serhiy Shefir, on Wednesday, before the UNGA session. “3 A.M. Dozens of calls. There was an attempt on the life of the first aide to the President of Ukraine. 12 shots. Three of them hit the driver. Here is the price of change in the state. Here is the price of reforms. Fortunately, Serhiy is alive. Fortunately, nothing threatens the driver’s life for now,” he said.
Zelensky added that his speech would be “unusual but useful” for his fellow delegates and asserted that Ukraine “woke up a long time ago and since then it has not fallen asleep.”
Talking about the disastrous impacts of COVID-19 on all nations, the President stressed the efforts taken by Ukraine to combat the pandemic internationally. Besides “sharing common objectives,” Ukraine has “shared vaccines that give life,” he said. “We helped others without waiting for gratitude. We sent our doctors to Italy, sent the necessary assets. Ukraine helped everyone who needed it when the world had forgotten that the pandemic would not last forever and that all nations would one day gather here again. But how will they look each other in the eyes now? Ukraine is not ashamed,” he went on to say.
Furthermore, the President reminded the delegates that the pandemic is not yet over and that Ukraine is one of the only nations to not believe in superficial claims. “The global vaccination plan has not gone anywhere. Plus, the guarantees that there will be no new viruses in the world are as ‘strong’ as the security guarantees of the Budapest Memorandum,” he said.
Next, he talked about the long-drawn Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas, the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the general state of continued Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Zelensky said, “Ukraine never slept. It is difficult to do so due to the sounds of explosions, the sounds of shots being heard in our occupied Donbas for the eighth year in a row. In 2019, I said from this rostrum: the war in Ukraine is more than 13 thousand dead. Thirty thousand wounded. Imagine one and a half million people are forced to leave their homes. Every year these figures are heard in the UN with only one amendment–every year, unfortunately, these figures are growing. I talked about this in 2020, and I’m talking about it now, in 2021. Almost 15,000 people have been killed already and even more wounded. And even more homeless people. This is the price of freedom, this is the price of independence.”
He added that the “sound of these shots are perhaps not heard as loudly in the Central Park or Madison Square Garden [in the US] as in the Avdiivka industrial zone or Svitlodarsk Arc [of Ukraine], which is why the latter can afford to sleep.”
Keeping these concerns in mind, particularly Ukraine’s inconsequential attempts and appeals to the UN for swift action regarding Russian aggression, Zelensky said his nation wants to “reanimate” the UN. “Maybe the UN should start moving to become more mobile, more agile. Maybe it’s time for us to meet where we can hear and see these global problems. To reanimate the UN–we need the truth,” the leader added.
He also repeated a quote from the speech by the first representative of independent Ukraine to the UN, President Leonid Kravchuk, 30 years ago during the UNGA’s 46th session: “If all those in power had sincerely supported the peace-loving efforts of the world community, shells would not have exploded on Afghan land today, and machine guns would not have terrorized the civilian population.”
“I only wish these words would’ve become less relevant today, 30 years later,” Zelensky said, referring to the US occupation and subsequent chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He delineated Ukraine’s “genuine commitment to the fundamental principles of the UN” by mentioning its role in evacuating 700 civilians from Afghanistan.
Regarding the Russian annexation of Crimea, Zelensky urged the UN to involve itself in the future and not “ignore” the International Summit of the Crimea Platform held last month against the Russian occupation. “If we are here to reanimate the UN, I invite all 193 member nations to join the Declaration of the Crimean Platform to condemn the occupation and to demonstrate that you are against changing borders by force in the world,” he said.
He then cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the UN General Assembly at Munich in 2015: “What is state sovereignty? First of all, it is a question of freedom, free choice of one’s destiny for each person, for the people, for the state.”
Zelensky stressed the integrity of these words and claimed that Russia’s actions negate it. He highlighted the “unlawful” detention of Nariman Dzhelyalov, the first deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar People’s Mejlis, earlier this month and the 450 Ukrainians illegally detained by Russia. “Russia accuses this political scientist, prominent journalist, TV presenter, teacher of law and history of trying to blow up a section of the gas pipeline. Here is the price of freedom, here is the price of fighting for your rights, for human rights,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader claimed that the UN raises concerns but fails to see to its resolution. “I call on the UN to support the updated resolutions on the human rights situation in the occupied Crimea and the militarisation of our Ukrainian occupied peninsula, which will be submitted to the General Assembly by the end of the year,” he said.
“Mr President of the 76th Assembly spoke a lot about climate change and the protection of the environment and nature on the planet. In this context, Crimea needs even more UN’s attention. They made a military base out of unique nature. Instead of fauna and flora, we have fleets and soldiers. And in the souls of the Crimean people, there is a problem opposite to the world – not global warming, but global devastation,” he added. Therefore, he demanded the UN’s unequivocal support for the Crimean Platform and Crimea’s de-occupation.
Lastly, Zelensky asserted that the UN must overcome the criticism regarding its gradual decline and “revive” itself based on its sacrosanct ethos that has protected the world for generations. He concluded: “Let’s show that we are determined to make every effort to strengthen our interaction! And let’s do it. Even without resolutions, declarations, coordination of positions. Just do it as people, as nations, as the United Nations–who made their choice. Their actions will either be filled with meaning, or these chairs will be empty. Here is the price of this choice.”
SUMMARY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s UNGA Address
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in NewYork on Thursday.
September 24, 2021
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in NewYork, Sept. 23, 2021. SOURCE: SOURCE: Associated Free Press