Ukraine’s Zelenskyy at UN: So Long as Wound Is Bleeding, Pain will be Felt around the World

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly for the second time in his presidency, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, denounced of the illegality of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and its aggression in Donbas and sternly warned the international community that as long as this wound in Ukraine continues to bleed, pain will be felt around the world.

In a speech today that seemed to throw down the gauntlet before world leaders, Zelenskyy challenged the United Nations to “play an important role in restoring sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, along with respect of the international law.” Furthermore, he said, “It is unacceptable when sovereignty of the independent state is violated by one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council,” implying that Russia should be brought to justice for its transgression.

“Until the wound in the center of Europe is bleeding, the pain will be felt all over the world. And the only recipe for the efficient treatment is the de-occupation of Crimea and Donbas,” Zelenskyy declared.

Zelenskyy criticized the UN member-states for becoming complacent about local, regional and global calamities. He objected that Crimea and Donbas have become “customary elements of the international landscape” where reports, conferences and protocol statements on the anniversaries of occupation have become sufficient forms international reaction.

He regretted that officials and diplomats at the UN have been hearing about Crimea and Donbas since 2014 but without results and that’s where the “biggest problem” lies. “And it is not only about the Ukrainian case; it is about all global threats to the planet, reports on which are getting longer and longer with every passing year. And what is the most terrifying is that calamities have become a new normal. The world got accustomed to horrible news. They still shock but are quickly forgotten once a new information bomb explodes on the global agenda,” Zelenskyy said.

The international order has been contaminated by “bugs” and “viruses” that have led to a new war in Europe since the end of World War II, he explained.

Referring to himself as the head of a state in which in the 21st century the Russian Federation annexed the Crimean Peninsula and head of the state, which is containing Russia’s military aggression in Donbas for the seventh year in a row, Zelenskyy seemed to be censuring other countries for their inability to contain global contaminants that have caused unrest in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Rhetorically asking what would the founding fathers of the UN say if they knew that 75 years after the establishment of this promising global organization there would be another bloody war in Europe, Zelenskyy described the pain that Ukraine is feeling: “That in Crimea human rights would be flagrantly violated, that persecutions of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars would be taking place. That militarization of the peninsula and water areas around it would be building up, which would undermine security balance of the Black Sea region. Would they change something in the UN Charter and mechanisms of the United Nations had they known that 75 years later, as a result of the war in Donbas, there would be 14,000 killed and almost 1.5 million people would lose their homes?”

Again implicitly telling UN member-states that they’re not sufficiently involved in solving problems, Zelenskyy asserted that in the past year Ukraine proved that it “really strives for peace.” He said Ukraine managed to unblock the dialogue and resume meetings of the Normandy format leaders, and made substantial progress in mutual release of the detained persons. Then, since July 27 a comprehensive ceasefire has been in place, he continued, which, “despite attempts to disrupt it, still gives hope for achieving sustainable ceasefire. And it is badly needed to keep moving towards genuine peace.”

Again turning the member-states’ inattentiveness to the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said “Next steps on this way should become the withdrawal of unlawful military formations and armaments from the occupied territories, return of control over the state border, and, finally, restoring territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders.”

With Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, being the cause of carnage and violence in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said the prestige of that UN body could be further depreciated. Replying to his own insinuation, he assured that his country “will actively participate in its reform.” He said the Security Council should become more representative, balanced, transparent and efficient. “It is in the United Nations’ vested interest to have an effective instrument if somebody is violating and abusing the veto right and the status of the permanent member,” he said.

Zelenskyy proposed the establishment of an international Crimea platform to protect the rights of Crimeans and de-occupy the peninsula and he invited participation by allies of Ukraine.

“I also call for support of the updated resolution ‘Situation with human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine’ that will be presented to the General Assembly by the end of this year,” he revealed.

Quoting his assertion of last year that “There is no more a notion of somebody else’s war. Our planet is not that big anymore,” Zelenskyy suggested that calamities such as MH17 cause environmental damage, propaganda results in the wanton dissemination of lies that slyly border on plausibility, and diseases like Covid-19 kill arbitrarily.

“Ukraine, being one of the countries that from 2014 on actively counteracts the propaganda and information attacks, stands ready to initiate the establishment in Kyiv of the headquarters of the international office to counter disinformation and propaganda,” he said.

Finding equitable solutions is a test for all countries, Zelenskyy opined. “A race for limited resources will only exacerbate the problems. What we need is sincerity in dialogue and active solidarity, because this is where the value of multilateralism lies. We have to overcome together the most serious economic crisis of the last years,” he implored world leaders.

Zelenskyy reminded the General Assembly that every year the call for actions instead of talks has been getting louder. They testify to the crisis the United Nations, the security architecture, the health of humanity, our economies and the world as a whole find themselves in, he observed.

While the 75th anniversary of the UN’s foundation should become an impetus for transforming the organization into a more dynamic and efficient body, Zelenskyy expressed the hope that his speech next year “will come down in history as an example of returning to active multilateralism and efficient international solidarity.”