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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba: "Gloomy Reality of a New Aggressive and Revisionist Rule Across Europe"
Photo: JASON SZENES/EPA
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned the UN General Assembly in New York against a Russian invasion of his country in emphatic words.
"The start of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it," Kuleba said.
"I warn every nation in this high-level chamber: no one will be able to sit out this crisis if President Putin decides he can continue his aggression against Ukraine," Kuleba said.
It is an attack on the international order and the independence of every country.
The world had to adjust to a new, "dark reality of a new, aggressive and revisionist rule across Europe."
At the same time, he assured that Ukraine - contrary to what Moscow claims - is not planning any military operations in eastern Ukraine.
Russia only wants to create a pretext for a war.
The world must now react with severe sanctions, says Kuleba, but at the same time keep diplomatic channels open.
The session of the UN General Assembly was a long-planned standard meeting on the situation in separatist-held areas of Ukraine.
At the meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that if the conflict escalated, “the world could experience a scale and severity of hardship not seen in many years”.
Our world is in a moment of peril, Guterres said.
Should the conflict in Ukraine escalate, it could lead to a crisis "of a magnitude and severity" the world has not seen in years.
"We meet in the midst of the most serious global peace and security crisis in years and certainly in my tenure as Secretary-General," Guterres said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize the independence of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine constitutes a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Minister of State Tobias Lindner spoke for Germany.
He praised Ukraine's reluctance.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government are striving for peace.
Germany and France also continued to strive for a diplomatic solution.
Lindner called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine's territory and withdraw recognition of the separatist areas as independent states.
The Minister of State appealed to the UN member states to condemn the Russian escalation.
“What hit Ukraine today could happen to other UN member states tomorrow.
Everyone in this assembly should be aware of that," said the Green politician.
Now the moment has come for all countries to speak up to defend the international order enshrined in the UN Charter.
At the same time, the Minister of State called on Russia to de-escalate.
asa/dpa