(United Nations) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the United Nations on Wednesday, seeking to secure continued support from the international community as it watches fears of a conflagration in the Middle East.
As Russia continues its daily bombing of Ukraine, President Zelensky on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to force Moscow to make peace with Kyiv.
“Russia can only be forced into peace and that is exactly what must be done: to force Russia into peace,” he said.
The Kremlin responded sharply on Wednesday. “The position of trying to force Russia to make peace is an absolutely fatal mistake. It is impossible to force Russia to peace,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing.
“Russia is in favor of peace,” he said, “but on condition that the foundations of its security are ensured and the objectives” of the offensive in Ukraine are achieved. “Without achieving these objectives, it is impossible to constrain Russia,” he warned.
Mr Zelensky is aware that after more than two and a half years of war, support for his country could be waning. Particularly in the United States, where a possible victory by Donald Trump in the November 5 presidential election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris could signal a change of policy in Washington.
So far, the United States has led a broad coalition of military and financial support for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, who has been in the United States since Sunday evening, is also due to present to his American counterpart Joe Biden and to Congress in Washington on Thursday the details of his “victory plan” aimed at ending the Russian invasion of his country, which began in February 2022.
“Serious problems”
Few details have been released about the plan, but for the Ukrainian president, it is all about strengthening Kyiv so that he can negotiate a strong hand. “A strong Ukraine will constrain [le président russe Vladimir] “Putin to come to the negotiating table,” Zelensky assured in an interview with the magazine New Yorker published on Sunday.
Kyiv is demanding more air defense systems and long-range missiles from its Western allies to better defend its cities against daily Russian attacks.
In his speech to the UN on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said Russia had failed in its invasion of Ukraine and urged the United Nations to maintain its support for Kyiv until it is victorious.
The aim is to ensure that “Ukraine is in the strongest possible position before spring,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told AFP in an interview.
A senior U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity said “intense discussions” were underway about continuing support for Ukraine, with the goal of ensuring the country has what it needs.
“On the brink”
More than 100 heads of state and government will take turns at the UN General Assembly until the end of the week, as conflicts rage across the planet, particularly in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Also expected on Wednesday is French President Emmanuel Macron, who arrived the day before and spoke on Tuesday evening with his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian, calling on him to “support a general de-escalation” in the Middle East, according to the Élysée.
Because the attention of this annual diplomatic high mass is mainly focused on the explosive situation in the Middle East, many leaders, starting with President Biden, having called on Tuesday to avoid at all costs a “generalized war” in Lebanon.
At the request of France, the Security Council must urgently address this crisis on Wednesday evening, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres having declared that “Lebanon is on the brink of the abyss.”
“A generalized war is in no one’s interest. Even if there is an escalation of the situation, a diplomatic solution is always possible,” said the American president, Israel’s primary military supporter, while calling for “finalizing” a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has carried out new deadly strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which responded with salvos of gunfire, after bombings on Monday that killed more than 550 people, stoking fears of a regional conflagration, nearly a year after the start of the war in Gaza.
This is the heaviest human toll in one day in Lebanon since the end of the civil war (1975-1990).