UNITED NATIONS
\nUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed the need to achieve peace in Ukraine, six months after the eruption of the conflict with Russia that he called \u201csenseless\u201d.
\nThe \u201csad and tragic milestone\u201d coincided with Ukraine\u2019s 31st anniversary of independence, and Guterre congratulated the country\u2019s people.
\n\u201cThe people of Ukraine and beyond need peace and they need peace now,\u201d he said. \u201cPeace in line with the UN Charter. Peace in line with international law.\u201d
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in the meeting via video conference, though the feed was at times unclear. He remarked that the world is dependent on his country\u2019s independence.
\nIn the period since Russia\u2019s invasion on February 24, thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, humanitarian needs have skyrocketed, and numerous human rights abuses and violations have been reported. Millions worldwide also continue to face a global food, fertilizer and fuel crisis, a ripple effect of the war.
\nThe Secretary-General provided an update on his visit to Ukraine last week to follow up on the landmark agreement to bring grain from the country back into global markets.
\n\u201cI can report to the Council that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul in July, is progressing well \u2013 with dozens of ships sailing in and out of Ukrainian ports, loaded so far with over 720,000 metric tonnes of grains and other food products,\u201d he told ambassadors.
\nThe Initiative, signed by Ukraine, Russia, T\u00fcrkiye and the UN, represents \u201ca powerful demonstration of what can be achieved, in even the most devastating of contexts, when we put people first,\u201d he added though pointing to the work still ahead.
\n\u201cThe other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to global markets of Russian food and fertilizers, which are not subject to sanctions.\u202fIt is critical that all governments and the private sector cooperate to bring them to market.\u201d
\nThe UN chief also underscored his continued concern over the situation in and around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has come under intense shelling in recent weeks.
\n\u201cThe warning lights are flashing,\u201d he said. \u201cAny actions that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant are simply unacceptable. Any further escalation of the situation could lead to self-destruction\u201d.
\nGuterres has welcomed expressions of support for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to dispatch a mission to the plant, Europe\u2019s largest nuclear facility.
\nMeanwhile, efforts are ongoing to deploy a recently established Fact-Finding Mission to Olenivka, where more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a blast at a detention facility in late July.
\nUN human rights bodies continue to document violations and abuses related to the armed conflict.
\nThey include arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and the willful killings of hundreds of civilians in parts of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions under Russian control during February and March.
\nIn detailing the war\u2019s toll on the country, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo also expressed concern over the situation of prisoners of war on both sides.
\n\u201cWe are concerned by reports that the Russian Federation and affiliated armed groups in Donetsk are planning to try Ukrainian prisoners of war in a so-called \u2018international tribunal\u2019 in Mariupol,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cAny tribunal must respect the protections afforded to all prisoners of war by international law, including fair trial guarantees. The failure to uphold these standards could amount to a war crime.\u201d
\nMs DiCarlo stated the war is having another impact beyond the tragic human and material toll in Ukraine, and the consequences in other parts of the world.
\n\u201cIn deepening global divisions and exacerbating mistrust in our institutions, the war is weakening the foundations of our international system,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cThe consequences of a breakdown in how the world manages questions of peace and security are frightening to contemplate. This war is not only senseless, but exceedingly dangerous, and it touches all of us. It must end\u201d.
\nPresident Zelenskyy addressed the 15-member Council, despite Russia\u2019s objection that he should participate in person and not virtually.
\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t a whim on our part; these are the rules that govern the work of the Council,\u201d said Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya.
\nZelenskyy warned that \u201cRussia has put the world on the brink of radiation catastrophe\u201d, referring to the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
\n\u201cThe IAEA mission should take permanent control of the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as soon as possible, and Russia should unconditionally stop nuclear blackmail and completely withdraw from the station,\u201d he said, speaking through an interpreter.
\nAlthough the deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports has partly relieved tensions on global food markets, Mr Zelenskyy said only full recovery of all agricultural exports will ensure millions around the world will have something to eat.
\nThe president stated that Russia must be held accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, adding that a relevant resolution will be submitted for consideration during the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly.
\n\u201cWe must all confirm and force Russia to recognize that the inviolability of borders and peace are unconditional values for all nations,\u201d he said.
\nFor the Russian Ambassador, the meeting was not related to developments on the ground but rather \u201cto demonstrate the unfailing support of Western delegations for any actions of the Kyiv regime.\u201d
\nThe Council has predictably heard much about Russian aggression, said Ambassador Nebenzya asserting that \u201cover the past 200 years, no other explanation for European security issues except for references to Russia\u2019s actions has emerged in the West.\u201d
\nNebenzya said while no one is arguing that it is \u2018difficult\u201d today for Ukrainians, \u201cthe responsibility for this lies with the Kyiv regime which came to power in 2014 as a result of an anti -constitutional coup carried out with the help of a number of Western states.\u201d
\nThe Russian Ambassador began his deliberation by highlighting how the technical difficulties made it difficult at times to make out what President Zelenskyy was saying.
\n\u201cWe hope that our position regarding the usefulness of in-person participation of guests, at the very least out of respect for them, has become clearer as a result of this to those following today\u2019s meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed the need to achieve peace in Ukraine, six months after the eruption of the conflict with Russia that he called \u201csenseless\u201d. The \u201csad and tragic milestone\u201d coincided with Ukraine\u2019s 31st anniversary of independence, and Guterre congratulated the country\u2019s people. \u201cThe people of Ukraine and beyond need peace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[3218],"class_list":{"0":"post-279587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-antonio-guterres"},"yoast_head":"\n