Zelensky to UNGA: "Half-hearted settlement plans" empower Putin
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President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 25. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "half-hearted settlement plans" in his UN General Assembly address Wednesday, saying alternatives ignore "the suffering of the Ukrainians" and give "Putin the political space to continue the war."
The big picture: More than two years into the war with Russia, the Ukrainian leader continues to call for the global stage to direct its attention to the embattled nation.
- Zelensky says he will share Ukraine's "victory plan" with President Biden during his vital UN visit, as well as with Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris and her rival, former President Trump.
What he's saying: "Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," he said, pointing to his own peace formula as the path forward rather than suggestions Ukraine cede territory to end the war.
- "Maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for frozen truce instead of real peace, but the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters," he said.
- He also called out North Korea and Iran, two nations that have provided weapons to Russia in its ongoing siege of Ukraine, for their aid to Putin, characterizing the ties between the three countries as a "telling choice of friends."
- He said pushing the conflict toward an end other than a "full and just peace" could trigger a return to a "brutal colonial past," cautioning other nations, "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense."
Yes, but: Zelensky says it's "impossible to truly and firmly resolve matters of war and peace" at the UN because of the veto power held by Russia in the UN Security Council as one of the five permanent member states.
- "When the aggressor exercise(s) veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the war, but the peace formula can," he said.
Between the lines: As Russian forces progress an intense push into eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian forces hold onto a swath of Putin's territory, Zelensky has appealed to the U.S. and allies to give his war-torn nation permission to use their weapons to strike farther into Russia.
- Before traveling to the UN gathering, Zelensky visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania, which has manufactured 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine, saying on X agreements "to expand cooperation between Pennsylvania and our Zaporizhzhia" had been reached.
Zoom out: He also warned of nuclear disaster at the hands of Russia, saying, "Radiation will not respect state borders, and unfortunately, various nations could feel the devastating effects."
- Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southeastern Ukraine, the largest nuclear power station in Europe, in 2022. Zelensky said Wednesday that the day Russia invaded the plant was "one of the most horrifying moments of the war."
- As of today, he said, Russia has destroyed all of the country's thermal power plants.
- "This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment ... millions of Ukrainians. ... Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter," he said.
The bottom line: Zelensky called for support to guarantee Ukraine's "right to territorial integrity and sovereignty" by forcing a withdrawal of Russian occupation and avoiding future phases of war.
- "If someone in the world seeks alternative to any of these points [in Ukraine's peace formula] or tries to ignore any of them," Zelensky contended, "it likely means they themselves want to do a part of what Putin is doing."
Go deeper: Zelensky urges allies to begin intercepting Russian missiles over Ukraine
