Ukrainian president stresses Russia, which invaded in February 2022, has been the ‘sole aggressor’ and ‘sole violator’ of the UN Charter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that negotiations alone would not end the war in Ukraine and that his country’s forces must “force Russia into peace”.
Zelenskyy told a high-level meeting of the 15-member council in New York that Russian President Vladimir Putin was committing “an international crime” and had broken so many international rules that he would not stop on his own.
And that’s why this war cannot be allowed to just disappear into the horizon. That’s why this war cannot be placated by negotiations,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. “Russia can only be forced to peace, and that is exactly what is needed: forcing Russia to peace as the only aggressor in this war, the only violator of the UN Charter.”
Russia, on Wednesday, called Zelenskyy’s move to force it to make peace a “fatal mistake”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, saying, “Such a position is a fatal mistake, a systemic mistake. This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime.”
It is impossible to blackmail Russia into peace, Peskov told reporters, adding that “Russia is a supporter of peace, but on the condition that the foundations of its security are ensured”.
