NEWS
Zelensky Accuses Russia of ‘Genocide’ At UN, Decries Forcible Deportation of Ukrainian Children
Courtesy of zelenskiy_official/Instagram
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday warned leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly that Russia will be coming for them next.
“The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you, against the international rules-based order,” Zelensky said. “Many seats in the General Assembly hall may become empty if Russia succeeds with its treachery and aggression.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, after previously annexing the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014.
In particular, Zelensky decried the forcible removal of thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of the country by Russian forces, and accused Russian leaders of genocide.
“Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine, and all ties with their families are broken. And this is clearly a genocide,” Zelensky said. “What will happen to them?”
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of abducting children from Ukraine. Russian officials have denied the claims.
Zelensky also pointed to ongoing disruptions of energy and food supplies throughout the region as a result of the war.
Both countries are major exporters of grain, and Russia over the summer nixed a deal that would have allowed Ukrainian grain to be shipped through the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Europe has been largely cut off from the Russian oil and gas supplies on which it has long depended.
It was Zelensky’s first in-person address to the body since the war began, after submitting pre-recorded remarks last year. Currently, a Ukrainian counteroffensive is in its third month, and isn’t going as well as some leaders had hoped.
“Weaponization must be restrained, war crimes must be punished, deported people must come back home, and the occupier must return to their own land. We must be united to make it and we’ll do it,” Zelensky said.
“Zelensky’s points are all correct even though they are couched in rhetoric,” said Stephen Blank, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and noted expert on Russia.
“There is no doubt of Russia’s war crimes. Indeed, since Nuremberg, aggression itself has been recognized as a war crime,” Blank said, referring to the so-called Nuremberg trials held by Allied powers against representatives of Nazi Germany in the years following World War Two.
“Likewise, as he emphasized, this war represents an attack on the basic foundations of international order and the U.N.,” Blank said.
President Biden also addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday, and called for continued assistance to Ukraine.
“Russia alone bears responsibility for this war,” Biden said during his remarks.
“Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it is Russia alone that stands in the way of peace, because the — Russia’s price for peace is Ukraine’s capitulation, Ukraine’s territory, and Ukraine’s children,” Biden said.
“Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence … If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I’d respectfully suggest the answer is no,” Biden said.
“We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” he said.
Biden has requested that Congress approve an additional $24 billion in military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, but some lawmakers remain staunchly opposed as budget negotiations continue.
On Thursday, Zelensky is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., to visit Capitol Hill and to meet with Biden at the White House.
TMX contributed to this article.
