Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to use his visit to the United Nations in New York to get Russia canceled from the international assembly. He questioned how it is that "Russian terrorists" have a seat at the UN. He also warned that Russia is poised to expand its war beyond Ukraine - an assertion with no evidence.
"If in the United Nations there is a place for Russian terrorists," Zelensky said, "it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations." ...Except that of course Russia doesn't hold just any UN seat, but it's permanent member of the UN Security Council, and exercises veto power in that capacity over the UNSC's most important resolutions and major decisions.
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| Via BBC |
Zelensky made the comments on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), when he visited a hospital in Staten Island which is treating some 18 wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Zelensky has long warned that the UN is "hostage" to Russian policy.
As for his UNGA speech the same day, given before some 140 nations, and after Biden spoke earlier, Zelensky went on the verbal attack against Russia, giving comments in English.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order," Zelensky said. He laid out that Russia is weaponizing essentials for survival like food and energy.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order," Zelensky said, also seeking to portray a pattern of Putin's "aggression" from Georgia to Syria to Moldova.
He
also alleged Moscow is committing "genocide" - and repeated media
claims of Russia having "kidnapped" some tens of thousands of
children. "Time goes by; what will happen to them?” He then called it "clearly a genocide."
Russia turned Syria into ruins - Zelensky
— Dagny Taggart (@DagnyTaggart963) September 19, 2023
I can see where it is going, projection speech , it is your owner the US who did , who is up to this day robbing Syrian people of oil and wheat . pic.twitter.com/9yMHPT2NOy
However, these reports of "Russia kidnapping children" have been based on the trend of Russian-speaking families of the Donbas in many cases willingly relocating to Russian territory, also given there had been a civil war raging there since 2014 involving pro-Kiev Ukrainians attacking pro-Russian Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Zelensky also used it as an occasion to condemn any potential peace plan offered by a third party which requires that Ukraine cede territory. The New York Times wrote, "Ukraine has been seeking backing for a 10-point settlement program that demands a full Russian withdrawal and payment of reparations."
"Zelensky
pitched the audience an idea for a summit with that program on the
agenda -- something Ukrainian diplomats say would be a symbolic success,
even without any means to enforce such a settlement on Russia," the
report noted.
Zelensky watches as Biden tells the U.N. General Assembly: "The United States together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/tRpixIcMOU
— Will Mauldin (@willmauldin) September 19, 2023
The UN audience applauded when at the end of his remarks Zelensky said the world must work to "end the aggression on the terms of the state that was attacked." He's expected to later travel to Washington, where he'll lobby for billions more in American taxpayer dollars to be pledged toward the war effort.
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Meanwhile, employing his UN-speak, Zelensky for a moment talked about the world body's "climate policy objectives"...
Nord 👏🏻 Stream https://t.co/gTda04OYBP
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) September 19, 2023
