Zelenskyy calls on UN General Assembly to support “real peace” in Ukraine

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, insisted on a just peace in Ukraine in accordance with his “peace formula.” 

According to Mr. Zelenskyy, the “peace formula” offers the best chance for peace, and Ukrainians will never accept the imposition of the colonial past over a just peace.

“When someone offers alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called’sets of principles’, they not only ignore the interests and suffering of Ukrainians who suffered the most from the war; they not only ignore reality but also give Putin the political space to continue the war,” the Ukrainian President said. 

The Ukrainian President added that his “formula for peace” as a global initiative has existed for two years. 

“And maybe someone wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography about a ‘frozen truce’ instead of real peace, but the only reward from Putin in return will be more suffering and disasters,” Zelenskyy said.

He outlined the main points of his vision for achieving peace in his speech.

“We must restore nuclear safety; the use of energy as a weapon must stop; we must guarantee food security; we must bring home all our captured soldiers and civilians, probably deported to Russia. We must comply with the UN Charter and guarantee our right, Ukraine’s right to territorial integrity and sovereignty, as we do for every other state,” Zelenskyy stated. 

“We must withdraw the Russian occupation forces, which will put an end to the fighting in Ukraine. We must bring those responsible for war crimes to justice. We must stop the ecocide… We must not allow a second or similar Russian invasion. We must make it clear: the war is over. This is the “formula for peace. Which part is unacceptable to anybody who follows the UN Charter? The Ukrainian leader inquired.

In his speech at the UN General Assembly meeting, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called on the international community to put pressure on Russia and deter it from shelling, which would pose a threat to Ukrainian nuclear energy.

He said that he had recently received alarming intelligence that Russia was preparing strikes against Ukrainian nuclear power plants and their infrastructure in order to disconnect the plants from the grid.

According to Mr. Zelenskyy, Russia uses third-country satellites to plan attacks.

“Russia receives images and detailed information about the infrastructure of our nuclear power plants. What is the threat? Any strike by missiles or drones, any serious incident in the power system can lead to a nuclear disaster,” Zelenskyy emphasized.

He continued that Russia must understand the consequences of its actions, and this depends, among other things, on whether the international community will put pressure on Moscow.