UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo: Iliya Pitalev, RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency)
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AL Nahyan reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, reports Asian Lite News
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has reinforced the importance of communication and dialogue to support regional and international stability and peace.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed meets Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
His Highness also stressed the importance of accelerating efforts to mitigate the humanitarian repercussions of the crisis and supporting prisoner-exchange initiatives on both sides.
The UAE President’s call for dialogue and diplomacy came during a working visit to St. Petersburg today, where he met with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
The two leaders discussed the longstanding relations as part of the UAE-Russia strategic partnership framework. His Highness and President Putin expressed their ongoing commitment to further build on the bilateral ties between the two nations.
The working visit of His Highness comes as part of the UAE’s continuous communication with all nations in an effort to build bridges and foster positive partnerships to ensure regional and international security and stability.
Before the talks, Vladimir Putin and Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan toured the stands of the United Arab Emirates at the SPIEF 2023. (Photo: Alexei Nikolskiy, RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency)
The UAE President was accompanied during the working visit by a delegation including H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Special Affairs Advisor at the Presidential Court; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; and Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
Russian President said that the rest of the nuclear weapons should be delivered by the end of the summer, reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that Moscow has sent its first batch of nuclear weapons to Belarus, The Hill reported.
Addressing St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that the rest of the nuclear weapons should be delivered by the end of the summer. Russia moves forward with the plan as part of the plan to deploy tactical nuclear bombs in the country bordering Ukraine. “This is a deterrence measure [against] all those who think about Russia and its strategic defeat,” he said in response to a question about the use of nuclear weapons in war.
The Russian leader’s comments follow claims from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko this week that his nation received the first part of the “bombs and missiles from Russia,” as per retorted by The Hill.
Lukashenko told Russian and Belarusian state media, “We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia,” adding, “The bombs are three times more powerful than those [dropped on] Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Fox News reported.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Russia has commenced the delivery of nuclear weapons to Belarus, including some that are apparently three times as powerful as those detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, reported Fox News.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The tactical nuclear warheads are the first Russia has moved since opening its invasion of Ukraine last year. The weapons’ arrival comes one week after Ukrainian forces began a large-scale counteroffensive against Russia. Lukashenko argues the weapons will only serve as a deterrent, as per a Fox News report.
Fox News is an American website based in New York City.
Meanwhile, Finland on April 4 this year became NATO’s newest member upon depositing its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. (ANI)
A huge soviet era Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine. (Photo: Twitter@MFA_Russia)
The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, a crucial hydroelectric plant on the Dnipro River, on the night of June 6, has created additional challenges to maintaining safety in and around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), reports Ateet Sharma
Calling it a “terrorist act directed against civilian infrastructure”, Russia has accused Ukraine of planning in advance the sabotage at the dam on Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power station for military purposes as part of its long-awaited counteroffensive.
The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, a crucial hydroelectric plant on the Dnipro River, on the night of June 6 caused devastating floods and impacted the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of civilians along the river in Southern Ukraine, including Russian-controlled territories and Crimea.
Both countries, at war for the last more than 15 months, continue to accuse each other for causing the Kakhovka disaster which has resulted in dire humanitarian and environmental consequences.
Ukraine stated that the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP was previously intensely discussed at the level of the occupation forces in the Kherson region and “propagandists” on Russian television, which indicates that it was planned in advance.
On the other hand, Moscow has alleged that the large-scale sabotage was planned by Kyiv in advance and it had warned the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council last year about the plans of the Ukrainian armed forces to strike at important infrastructure facility.
“Even then, there was information that the Ukrainian forces were considering the possibility of launching sea mines down the Dnieper or launching a massive missile attack on the dam. Alas, this catastrophe was never averted,” said Mikhail Buyakevich in his speech at the meeting of the Permanent Council of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – the world’s largest regional security organisation.
🇺🇦 Ukrainian terrorist act at the Kakhovskaya HPP was addressed at the Conference on Disarmament.
💥 We strongly condemn the heinous act directed at exclusively civilian infrastructure that:
1️⃣) caused enormous damage to a huge part of the Kherson region;
— Russian Mission in Geneva (@mission_russian) June 9, 2023
The Russian diplomat detailed that, having not achieved success in offensive actions by reconnaissance in combat, Kyiv, in order to strengthen its potential in priority areas, intends to transfer units and equipment from the Kherson direction.
“For this purpose, V. Zelensky’s formations began to build defensive positions on the right bank of the Dnieper, which indicates their intentions at the current moment to go on the defensive here. In order to prevent offensive actions of the Russian army on this sector of the front, the Kyiv regime undertook a subversive, in fact, terrorist act,” said Buyakevich in his speech.
He also mentioned that the lock of the dam of the power plant was damaged during a strike by Ukrainian forces on November 6 from American HIMARS MLRS systems.
“In its December 29, 2022 article, The Washington Post quoted UAF Major General Andriy Kovalchuk as talking about the flooding of the Dnieper River. He confessed that Ukrainian formations carried out a trial strike with HIMARS on one of the locks of the Novokakhovskaya dam, making three holes in the metal to see if the waters of the Dnieper could rise enough to block Russian crossings, but not flood nearby villages. The test was successful, A Kovalchuk said then,” remarked Buyakevich.
Russia is also surprised with the “incredibly quick reaction” of Western countries holding Moscow accountable for a war crime.
“By the way, the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in their own territorial waters have not been investigated by EU representatives for eight months, but the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam, thousands of kilometers from the EU borders, was sorted out in half a day,” stated the Russian Mission in Geneva.
Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP)
The dam’s destruction has created additional challenges to maintaining safety in and around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
While there remains no short-term risk to nuclear safety and security, the level of the reservoir that supplies cooling water to Russian-controlled Europe’s largest nuclear power plant continues to fall.
On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it will provide vital assistance to Ukraine in coping with the devastating consequences of this week’s dam disaster.
IAEA Director General Grossi is scheduled to meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky next week and also travel to the ZNPP in the country’s south.
The IAEA experts present at the ZNPP said the height of the reservoir is continuing to drop at a rate of around five centimetres per hour and had reached 11.62 metres at 7 pm local time Friday, down from nearly 17 metres before the dam was damaged.
“Through the use of nuclear techniques, we will determine the effects on potable water, human health, and soil and water management and assess the integrity of critical infrastructure. Ukraine can count on our assistance now and in dealing with the longer-term consequences of this disaster,” said Grossi.
The IAEA chief revealed that Russia has informed in a letter to him that there had been “incoming strikes with the use of Kamikaze drones” on Thursday and again on Friday against the electric switchyard of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP), which in the past has been used for providing back-up electricity to the ZNPP until the last such 330 kilovolt (kV) power line was damaged more than three months ago.
Both the US and Russia would welcome any role India could play in bringing about a ceasefire – the US and India would not like Russia to be pushed into the Chinese camp deepening the revival of the Cold War, writes D.C. Pathak
The Ukraine-Russia military confrontation has stretched longer than expected largely because the plan of Russian President Vladimir Putin to establish a protective presence in the eastern provinces of Ukraine for the Russian-speaking population there through a quick military operation went awry because of the determined move of US-NATO combine to pump in war material in the hands of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a big scale.
Russia might not have been deterred by the thought of Western sanctions as it had become familiar with them ever since it had annexed Crimea in 2014 following an armed revolt led by Islamic fundamentalists there who apparently enjoyed the US support.
Presently, the US-led West is keeping up aid and military support to Ukraine in a ‘proxy’ mode, believing that for Russia the war was inflicting costs that might become overbearing, that the world opinion was gravitating in favour of peaceful negotiation between the two warring sides and that certainly an escalation into a nuclear dimension would be totally unacceptable for the international community.
It is not going unnoticed by observers that Zelensky was taking to an aggressive jargon – all on the strength of US support though – setting demands like immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and talking of an ultimate Russian defeat. Coming from a leader in his precarious situation this was understandable. There is little doubt however, that the world favours an honourable peace pact between Russia and Ukraine.
India became the voice of sanity as Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to both Putin and Zelensky – he was the world’s first leader to do that – and called for peace negotiations. His pithy reminder later that ‘this is not a time for war’ has swung international opinion in favour of a cessation of armed hostilities.
India maintained a non-partisan approach to the conflict and abstained from US-sponsored anti-Russia resolutions at the UN. What is noteworthy, however, is that India retained a bilateral friendship with the US and the UK, as well as the leading European powers like France and Germany.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits recaptured city of Izyum.(photo:Instagram)
A situation has arisen where any initiative for bringing a halt to the Ukraine-Russia military conflict that has prolonged without creating any definite advantage for either side would receive a global endorsement.
Ukraine is bearing the losses and yet seeking a further upgradation of the US armament support while President Putin might be aware that Russia was running into an image problem as a ‘big power’ that could not score a decisive ‘victory’ over a smaller neighbour.
Putin can not be serious about injecting a ‘nuclear dimension’ in the name of using tactical missiles with that special capability.
India’s balanced approach has already been hailed by the world. It can be surmised that both the US and Russia would welcome any role India could play in bringing about a ceasefire – the US and India would not like Russia to be pushed into the Chinese camp deepening the revival of the Cold War. Any meaningful success of such an intervention would be a feather in India’s cap during the G20 Presidency.
India’s NSA has been in touch with Russia and Ukraine at the highest levels and under his guidance, a track-2 team could quietly get into the act – an official engagement would be vulnerable to fault-finding in case the progress was not perfect. The team comprising a senior diplomat and a strategic expert chosen by NSCS, could possibly start consultations for peace and explore with the help of its counterparts from Russia and Ukraine, the possibility of evolving a framework of guidelines for negotiations.
The fundamental point is that the negotiating team must consider concerns and sensitivities of both sides. When the Cold War ended with the success of the anti-Soviet armed campaign in Afghanistan- a battle run on the war cry of Jehad- that resulted in the dismemberment of the USSR and literally the demise of International Communism, the cause of global peace for the future, would have been served better if the newly freed East European countries and the Central Asian Republics were encouraged to have peaceful relations with the residual state of Russia.
NATO could be maintaining oversight on these regions but without getting into direct military involvement with the neighbours of Russia.
Former US President Donald Trump struck a certain equation with Vladimir Putin despite the history of the ‘Crimean war’ but the relationship between the US and Russia soured as President Biden renewed emphasis on America’s special bonds with NATO and apparently, looked upon Russia as an adversary at par with China.
The Democrats, it may be mentioned, had returned to power amidst widespread resentment over the alleged interference by Russia in the US Presidential election designed to favour Trump.
The neighbours of Russia left on their own should have concentrated on building themselves as democratic regimes willing to deal with that country on merit – with such help as the international community could possibly extend to them.
Annexation of the adjoining Crimea by Russia in 2014 – following the rise of the anti-Russia revolt led by Islamic militants there – had predictably marked the beginning of a constant decline of West-Russia relations.
In the environment set by that event countries like Ukraine were nearly sucked into the NATO orbit for their self-defence. European Union saw Russia as a source of threat but Trump who welcomed the British on ‘getting their country back’ through Brexit, seemingly treated Russia as another European country and thought it could be handled according to what would be in the best American interests.
Negotiators working for peace in the present would have to start with an acknowledgement that both Russia and Ukraine had security concerns that needed to be kept in view and that the matter was largely about two adjoining countries with different philosophies of governance, respecting each other and striking an arrangement for living in peace as neighbours. It would help if Ukraine declared that it is a democratic country run by a political executive elected on the basis of ‘one man one vote’ without any distinction of race, region or gender.
Russian-speaking people of its eastern region would have an added confidence and feel they were on the same footing as the rest of the population.
It is also – as a good starter – desirable for Ukraine to explicitly indicate that left to itself it would not seek membership of NATO. A ceasefire has to mark the launch of tripartite negotiations between the teams of Ukraine, Russia and the mediators and logically also to a scaling down of the Western supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine.
It would be necessary to let the two warring countries express their concerns and misgivings in the present and for the future. The more open they are about these the easier it would be for the negotiators to work around them and establish a reasonable level of acceptance and lasting assurance on both sides.
The intervention of the US-led West on the side of Ukraine was justifiable up to a point but not the strategy of running a proxy war through that country in the hope of weakening Russia – particularly when this was happening at the cost of a friendly Ukraine.
The real challenge for the negotiators would be to do the groundwork for facilitating a Peace Pact between Russia and Ukraine that will create certain checks and balances to the satisfaction of the international community, and see to it that an arrangement both sides could trust would be created – embracing Crimea’s status too – and bring in the democratic world as a whole for possible assistance in completing that groundwork. The pact will have to envisage global funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine – with Russia also making a symbolic contribution in keeping with its status as the much bigger power, in the bilateral conflict.
A relevant issue would be to fix a reasonable sizing of Ukraine’s Defence forces required to preserve the sovereignty of a democratic country and provide internal security in the areas where the Russian-speaking population lived. Conditions would have to be created for a gradual withdrawal of the Russian military from Ukraine in pursuance of the Peace Pact as also a matching lifting of ‘sanctions’ imposed by the US-led West on Russia.
The Russia-Ukraine military conflict had been a prolonged one – adversary impacting the entire geopolitics and global economy – and untangling the complex issues that precipitated it in the first instance will have to be done patiently and with an understanding of what was bothering the two sides.
Shared economic growth is a guarantor of peace and the negotiations should give due attention to whatever could provide mutual benefit to the two countries in future. The Ukraine-Russia military conflict had in one sense, a localised dimension involving two neighbours and it cannot be allowed to land the entire world in a crisis.
Peace negotiations have to be free of political tints, have to be guided by what was good for the world and had to be conducted upfront on the strength of the bona fides of the mediators.
(The writer is a former Director of he Intelligence Bureau. Views expressed are personal)
The US Secretary of State also urged his Russian counterpart to reverse Moscow’s “irresponsible decision” and return to implementing the nuclear arms reduction treaty.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged his Russian counterpart Lavrov to reverse Moscow’s “irresponsible decision” and return to implementing the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treat) nuclear arms reduction treaty.
“I spoke briefly with Russian FM Lavrov today,” said Blinken as he confirmed that he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of G20 in New Delhi. “I urged Russia to reverse its irresponsible decision and return to implementing the New START, which places verifiable limits on the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russian Federation. Mutual compliance is in the interest of both our countries. It’s also what people around the world expect from us as nuclear powers,” Blinken added.
“I told the foreign minister that no matter what else is happening in the world or in our relationship, the United States will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did even at the height of the Cold War,” he added.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the first session of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
The meeting was the first face-to-face meeting between the two foreign ministers since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began over a year ago and which triggered a rift between US-led Western countries and Russia.
He said that every country continues to bear the cost of Russia’s aggression.
“Every country continues to bear the cost of Russia’s aggression; A war that President Putin can end tomorrow if he chose to do so. We worked hard to prevent it,” said Blinken in New Delhi.
Blinken also reaffirmed Washington’s support for Ukraine’s peace proposal that maintains the country’s territorial integrity.
He also lauded Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “PM Modi is right that there are challenges to the multilateral system. And those challenges in many ways are coming directly from Russia which is violating the principles that lie at the heart of that system.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses a press conference on India’s role in bringing peace amid the Ukraine crisis, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
“I told the foreign minister (Lavrov) what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations and what so many G20 foreign ministers said today: End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace,” Blinken said in Delhi.
“The US stands ready to support Ukraine through diplomacy to end the war on this basis President Putin however has demonstrated zero interest in engaging saying that there is nothing to talk about,” Blinken said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is suspending participation in New START — the only remaining major nuclear arms control treaty with the US — and sought to blame the West for the Ukraine conflict.
Notably, the START caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can deploy.
The TREATY was signed by former US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in 2010.
It came into force in February 2011 and was extended in 2021 for five more years after US President Joe Biden took office.
New Delhi, Mar 02 (ANI): South Africa Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor with Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly at the first session of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in New Delhi on Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov can also be seen on the extreme left. (ANI Photo)
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West is trying to divide the geopolitical picture into individual episodes.
“The West is trying to divide the geopolitical picture into individual episodes but India, addressed by PM Modi, gave the assessment of the situation across the globe in general terms and I completely share it,” Lavrov said after holding a brief meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Lavrov said that Russia has tried to resolve the issues on many occasions, and Russia has publicly stated that it has never refused to listen to suggestions to find political resolutions.(ANI)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the first session of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
Both the leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov briefly during which he is learnt to have “pressurised” the Russian minister on Ukraine, according to reports.
Both the leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting. This was the first highest level one-on-one contact between the two nations since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out a year ago.
South Africa Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor with Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly at the first session of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in New Delhi on Thursday. Russian Foregn Minister Sergey lavrov can also be seen on the extreme left. (ANI Photo)
Incidentally, the meeting took place a day after Blinken had said that he had no plans to either meet his Chinese or Russian counterparts, reports said.
Reports further said that Blinken is learnt to have put across the message that Russia should engage with Ukraine and adhere to its demands.
The US has expressed optimism that Russia will reverse its decision on Ukraine and engage with it diplomatically, which would lead towards peace.
However, reports quoting sources said that the brief encounter between Blinken and Lavrov may not exactly change the situation in the near future.
Meanwhile, Russian spokesperson Maria Zarkhova, while referring to the meeting between the two leaders, said: “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked for ‘contact’ with foreign minister Lavrov, during the second session of G20 meet. They had ‘contact’, there were no talks or a full-fledged meeting.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky is also planning to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he plans to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to follow up on Beijing’s proposals on ending the ongoing war.
In a 12-point paper released by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Friday as the war marked a year, China said that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis,adding that it “will continue to play a constructive role in this regard”.
The paper called for a resumption of peace talks between the two warring sides, an end to unilateral sanctions, and stressed its opposition to the use of nuclear weapons.
“All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually de-escalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire,” it added.
In response, Zelenksy said that China’s proposal signalled that it was involved in the search for peace.
“I really want to believe that China will not supply weapons to Russia,” the BBC quoted the President as saying.
President Putin meets with Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Wang Yi. (Photo by Anton Novoderezhkin, TASS)
He liked the fact that China started talking about Ukraine, and considers this to be “very good”. But the question remained on what lies behind those words, what actions will follow them, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
The President also positively reacted to the People’s Republic of China respecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
In general, according to the President, the fact that China’s so-called “peace plan” includes respect for international territorial law and “certain security things” already makes it possible to work with this country.
“Our task is to bring everyone together to isolate someone,” he added.
Meanwhile, Russia hailed the proposals, saying “we share Beijing’s views”.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Beijing was considering supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia – a claim strongly denied by Beijing. On Friday, American media again reported that the Chinese government was considering sending drones and artillery shells to Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits recaptured city of Izyum.(Photo: Instagram)
Asked about the Chinese plan, US President Joe Biden told ABC News on Friday: “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s applauding it, so how could it be any good?
“I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia.”
The development comes following China’s Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi’s visit to Moscow, where he met President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday.
After the talks, Wang was quoted by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency as saying that Beijing was willing to “deepen political trust” and “strengthen strategic coordination” with Moscow.
The intractable nature of the year-long Ukraine war has manifested itself in the UN Security Council in the drama of Russia and Ukraine holding two rivaling moments of silence for victims of conflicts there, reports Arul Louis
As the Council met on Friday, the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kiev’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a moment of silence to honour the victims of Moscow.
Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia reluctantly joined in while appearing to object.
He next asked for another moment of silence for “all victims of what has happened in Ukraine starting in 2014” — a reference to the West-backed protests that ousted the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych that was followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and an insurgency by ethnic Russians in the Donbas region.
After he appeared to be prompting Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, everyone, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined in.
Earlier, Kuleba had defiantly declared that Russia’s President Vladimir “Putin is going to lose much sooner than he thinks”.
“Ukraine will resist as it has done so far, and Ukraine will win,” he said.
He said that 141 countries had voted in the General Assembly on Thursday to deplore Russia’s invasion and demand its withdrawal from Ukraine.
He made an appeal for weapons for his country’s “legitimate” defence and added, “if you give weapons to Russia, you commit a crime”.
Nebenzia accused the west of wanting the strategic defeat of Russia and its disintegration.
“Our Western colleagues are currently happy with everything: the Russians and Ukrainians are killing each other, and the Western companies are getting fabulously rich, and NATO is getting rid of its old weapons.”
Blinken said that “when President Putin couldn’t break the Ukrainian military, he intensified efforts to break Ukrainians’ spirit”.
He also listed listing what he said were the war’s toll: Tens of thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children; more than 13 million uprooted people from their homes; more than half of the country’s energy grid destroyed; more than 700 hospitals, 2,600 schools bombed; and at least 6,000 Ukrainian children taken away to Russia.
#Nebenzia: If #Ukraine had not begun a war against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk with connivance of the #West, and if Kiev had heeded their aspirations, no special military operations would have been required. pic.twitter.com/vhZqpMSI65
“There is an aggressor and there is a victim. Russia fights for conquest. Ukraine fights for its freedom.”
While Washington is ready for meaningful diplomatic efforts to find peace while upholding the UN Charter’s principles, he warned that the world must not be fooled by calls for a ceasefire that will only help Russia rearm for another round.
He said that it would be a “false equivalency” to call on both sides to stop fighting when Russia is the aggressor.
Blinken appeared to be dropping a cautionary note on the 12-point proposal that China made for ending the war.
Referring to the plan, China’s UN Mission’s Charge d’Affaires Dai Bing asserted that Beijing has always taken an objective and impartial stance and stands ready to play a constructive role.
He called on Russia and Ukraine to resume negotiations without preconditions.
Guterres said: “Life is a living hell for the people of Ukraine. We must all encourage every meaningful effort to end the bloodshed and, at long last, give peace a chance.
“The guns are talking now, but in the end, we all know that the path of diplomacy and accountability is the road to a just and sustainable peace.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine, at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Ying/IANS)
The Charter itself has paralysed the UN by conferring veto powers for permanent members at the Security Council, which alone can act, a report by Arul Louis
Paralysed by its own Charter and structure, the world organisation that is charged with preventing wars confronts an existential challenge from Russias ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
When Russia, a UN Security Council Permanent Member, sent its troops into a smaller neighbour defying the UN Charter and all norms of international relations on February 24, 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said: “This is the saddest moment in my tenure as Secretary-General of the UN.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kiev on April 28, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Office/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)
Beyond sadness from the betrayal and the pain inflicted on nations around the world, especially the poorest, the war drives into the very foundation of the UN built nearly 78 years ago.
Guterres warned this month, “I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war, I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open”.
And the invasion has raised questions about the UN’s resolve “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”, as the first sentence of its Charter declares.
Yet the Charter itself has paralysed the UN by conferring veto powers for permanent members at the Security Council, which alone can act.
Russia’s vetoes have mired the Council in the morass of inaction renewing calls for its reform.
Describing the situation, General Assembly President Csaba Korosi said: “The Security Council — the main guarantor of international peace and security – has remained blocked, unable to fully carry out its mandate.”
“Growing numbers are now demanding its reform,” he said noting that at the Assembly’s High-Level Week in September, “one-third of world leaders underscored the urgent need to reform the Council — more than double the number in 2021”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Petersburg in 2019. (File Photo: UN)
While the reform process — in which India has a special interest as an aspirant for a permanent seat –that has itself been stymied for nearly two decades has come to the fore, it is not likely to happen any time soon.
But the General Assembly, which does not have the enforcement powers of the Council, has used the imbroglio to set a precedent forcing permanent members when they wield their veto to face it and explain their action.
Russia appeared before the Assembly to answer for its vetoes while facing a barrage of criticism.
The Assembly also revived a seldom-used action under the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution of calling for an emergency special session when the Council fails in its primary duty of maintaining peace and security.
It passed a resolution in March demanding that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders”.
It received 141 votes — getting more than two-thirds of the votes 193 required for it — while India was among the 35 countries that abstained.
This, as well as the subsequent three passed last year ultimately were but an exercise in moral authority with no means to enforce it.
A proposal made by Mexico and France in 2015 calling on permanent members to refrain from using their vetoes on issues involving them also has been getting a re-airing– but to no avail.
Russia’s Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenza vetoes the resolution at the UN Security Council.
India, which was a member of the Council last year was caught in the middle of the polarisation at the UN, both at the Council and the Assembly, because of its dependence on Russian arms and the support it had received at crucial times in the Security Council from its predecessor the Soviet Union.
India abstained at least 11 times on substantive resolutions relating to Ukraine in both chambers of the UN, including resolutions at the Council sponsored by Moscow.
India faced tremendous pressure from the West to join in voting on resolutions against Russia and openly take a definitive stand condemning Moscow.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Security Council in September 2022: “As the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, we are often asked whose side we are on. And our answer, each time, is straight and honest. India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there.”
And while keeping the semblance of neutrality while voting, India came closest to taking a stand in support of Ukraine — and by inference against Russia — when he said, “we are on the side that respects the UN Charter and its founding principles”.
Now out of the Council, New Delhi’s profile has been lowered and it also does not have to publicly display its tight-rope walk as often, although it may yet have to do it again this week when the Assembly is likely to have a resolution around the invasion’s anniversary.
The pain of the invasion is felt far beyond the borders of Ukraine.
(Photo: Instagram/zelenskiy)
Guterres said: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound global implications.”
The fallout of the war has set back the UN’s omnibus development goals.
More immediately, several countries came to the brink of famine and the spectre of hunger still stalks the world because of shortages of agricultural input, while many countries, including many developed nations, face severe energy and financial problems.
The war shut off exports of food grains from Ukraine and limited exports from Russia, the two countries that have become the world’s food baskets.
Besides depriving many countries of food grains, the shortages raised global prices.
The one victory for the UN has been the Black Sea agreement forged with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey in July to allow safe passage for ships carrying foodgrains from Ukrainian ports.
Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that in about 1,500 trips by ships so far, “more than 21.3 million tonnes of grain and food products have been moved so far during the initiative, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilising markets”.
Csaba Korosi, president of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). (Xinhua/Wang Ying/IANS)
A UN outfit, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has also made an impact during the war, working to protect nuclear facilities in Ukraine that were occupied by Russia’s forces while shelling around them.
It said that it has managed to station teams of safety and security experts at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and at Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 disaster “to help reduce the risk of a severe nuclear accident during the ongoing conflict in the country”.
Germany, who in recent months came under growing pressure over its apparent hesitation to send weapons to Ukraine, agreed in January to allow German-made, heavy Leopard tanks to be sent to the war-torn nation.
Addressing the Munich Security Conference (MSC), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country will “very soon” deploy the Leopard tanks in Ukraine.
In his speech at the MSC on Friday which comes just days ahead of the first anniversary of the ongoing invasion, the Chancellor said it was “wise to prepare for a long war” and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that Germany and its allies would not give up on Ukraine, reports the BBC.
“Putin’s revisionism will not win. Ukraine is more united than ever. The EU stands united and behind Ukraine’s future EU membership. And NATO is growing by two new members.
“It is not our arms deliveries that are prolonging the war. On the contrary: the sooner President Putin realizes that he will not achieve his imperialist goal, the greater the chance that the war will end soon and that Russian troops will withdraw,” he was quoted as saying.
The MSC which is an annual gathering of leaders, officials and diplomats, also saw the attendance of French President Emmanuel Macron, US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as 30 European heads of government.
Germany, who in recent months came under growing pressure over its apparent hesitation to send weapons to Ukraine, agreed in January to allow German-made, heavy Leopard tanks to be sent to the war-torn nation, the BBC reported.
It also allowed other countries to send their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which was restricted until now under export regulations.
No Russian officials have been invited to the Conference.
