‘Act immediately’ on Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the United Nations to "act immediately" or "dissolve yourself altogether" during a blistering address in which he showed a harrowing video of dead bodies -- including children -- he said were victims of Russian atrocities.
Likening Russia's actions in Ukrainian cities such as Bucha to violence carried out by "terrorists" such as the Islamic State group, Zelensky called on the UN Security Council -- which aims to ensure international peace and security -- to expel Russia "so it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war."
Russia, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has a veto, which it has repeatedly wielded to block resolutions and negotiations on the global stage.
"If there is no alternative and no option, then the next option would be dissolve yourself altogether," Zelensky continued.
The United Nations could be "simply closed," he said via video link. "Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to close the UN? And the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by warning of the global fallout from the conflict, with soaring food, energy and fertilizer prices affecting up to 1.2 billion people in 74 countries.
"The war in Ukraine must stop -- now," Guterres told the Council, after calling it "one of the greatest challenges ever to the international order."
"We need serious negotiations for peace, based on the principles of the United Nations Charter," he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday said the killing of Ukrainians in Bucha was part of a deliberate campaign "to kill, to torture, to rape."
"As this Russian tide is receding from parts of Ukraine, the world is seeing the death and destruction left in its wake," he told reporters as he flew to Brussels.
US President Joe Biden has called for a "war crimes trial" over the alleged atrocities and Western officials have vowed new economic sanctions this week in response to the harrowing discoveries in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv.
Russia, however, accused Ukraine of staging new civilian deaths in a number of locations in an effort to pin the blame on Moscow, reports AFP.
The Russian defence ministry said yesterday that the Ukrainian military recorded a fake video that purported to show "peaceful civilians allegedly killed by the Russian armed forces".
The video was made on Monday evening in the settlement of Moshchun some 20 kilometres northwest of Kyiv and was designed to be distributed through Western media, Moscow said.
Meanwhile, Italy, Spain and Denmark joined EU allies yesterday in expelling Russian diplomats amid increasing outrage over the Ukraine conflict, with around 150 sent home in the last 48 hours.
The expulsions -- many for alleged spying -- follow international condemnation of killings in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yesterday that the mass expulsions of its diplomats was "a short-sighted move".
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