Ukraine’s foreign minister was defiant Friday on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of his nation, saying the more Moscow attacks, the stronger Ukrainian resolve will grow, and the more humiliating Russia’s defeat ultimately will be.
“Ukraine will resist as it has done so far, and Ukraine will win,” Dmytro Kuleba told a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is going to lose much sooner than he thinks.”
The high-level meeting drew a full chamber of European ministers and representatives from interested countries.
Kuleba asked everyone to stand to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the war. Russia’s envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, remained seated, as did the envoys from China and Brazil. The Russian then broke the silence, saying he was standing to honor the memory of all victims of what has happened in Ukraine, starting from 2014 — since hostilities began between the parties in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reminded council members that a week before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he publicly warned the council of Putin’s plans.
“I said that Russia would manufacture a pretext and then use missiles, tanks, soldiers, cyberattacks to strike pre-identified targets, including Kyiv, with the aim of toppling elected government,” Blinken reminded the council. “Russia’s representative — the same representative who will speak today — called these 'groundless accusations.'"
He said when Putin failed to seize the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and topple the democratically elected government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he turned his war on the Ukrainian people, killing, displacing, destroying homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, and abducting Ukrainian children.
“And yet the spirit of the Ukrainians remains unbroken. If anything, it is stronger than ever,” Blinken said.
Russia’s envoy accused the West of hiding behind calls for peace.
“What is meant [by calls for peace] is the capitulation of Russia and inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, ideally followed by the disintegration of Russia and redrawing the territories it includes,” the Russian envoy said.
'Absolutely false'
Nebenzia also rejected Western characterizations of Ukraine as the victim of Moscow’s aggression, referring to a common refrain by Ukraine and Western leaders that if Russia stops fighting, the war will end, but if Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine will end.
“It sounds pretty, but it is absolutely false,” Nebenzia said. “When and from whom did you hear that the goal of our military operation is to destroy Ukraine, to de-Ukrainize Ukraine? We have never stated such a goal.”
Ignoring the death and destruction Moscow has inflicted on Ukraine over the past 12 months, Nebenzia said Russia only seeks a “friendly neighbor” that does not threaten Russia and does not discriminate against anyone or “resurrects Nazis.”
Most council members echoed appeals for peace and dialogue, urging Russia to cease its war, withdraw its troops and respect General Assembly resolutions and a March order from the International Court of Justice ordering Russia to suspend its military operations.
Britain’s foreign secretary said his government would host a recovery conference for Ukraine in June.
Earlier Friday, China released what it calls its position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. The 12-point document includes calls for respecting international law and the sovereignty, independence and territoriality of all countries. It urges “all parties” to support Russia and Ukraine to reach a dialogue to gradually de-escalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive cease-fire.
“We have always taken an objective and impartial stance based on the merits of the issue, and are ready to play a responsible and constructive role in easing the situation and resolving the crisis,” China says in the document.
Kuleba said there are some elements in the Chinese paper that Kyiv agrees with, but that any new peace proposals should be aligned with demands set forth in the resolution adopted Thursday by the U.N. General Assembly.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said if China wants to be considered credible and not one-sided, it should send its envoy to Kyiv to talk to Zelenskyy, not just to Moscow.
“When the president of Senegal or the president of Indonesia presented proposals, they went both to Moscow and Kyiv,” Borrell pointed out. While making clear he was not dismissing the Chinese document, he said it was not an operational peace plan, but a position paper that deserves to be considered.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia’s invasion unleashed widespread death, destruction and displacement.
“Life is a living hell for the people of Ukraine,” he told the council.
He reiterated his call for peace in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and the General Assembly resolution.
That resolution, adopted with a vote of 141 in favor, seven against and 32 abstentions, calls for “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” as soon as possible in Ukraine, in line with the principles in the U.N. Charter.
Unconditional withdrawal
It also reiterates the assembly’s demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders” and calls for a cessation of hostilities.
The past year has caused a humanitarian crisis in the heart of Europe, the scale of which has not been seen since World War II. The United Nations says thousands have been killed and injured, more than 8 million Ukrainians have become refugees, and another 5.4 million are displaced inside the country.
Nearly 40% of the population cannot afford or access enough food and requires humanitarian assistance. Millions of people, including children, are at risk of acute post-traumatic stress disorder after a year of war.
