Russia Ukraine War LIVE Update: UK Slams Russia's "Cowardly" Attacks on Ukraine at the UNSC

lva Poland Romania and Ukraine to participate in this meeting it is so decided in accordance with rle 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite Mr Miroslav yancha assistant secret general for Europe Central Asia and America's Department of political and peace building Affairs and peace operations to participate in this meeting it is decided in accordance with rule 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite his Excellency Mr stos lambrinides head of Delegation of the European Union to United Nations to participate in this meeting it is so decided the security Council will now begin its consideration of item two of the agenda I give the floor to Mr Yugoslav yancha thank you uh Mr President on Saturday 24 August Ukraine marked its 33rd Independence Day the day also marked a somber Milestone of two and a half years of Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law on this occasion we reiterate the United Nations full commitment to the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders over the past 30 months millions of ukrainians have witnessed unimaginable death Devastation and destruction according to the office of the High Commissioner for human rights since 24 February 20 22 11, 662 civilians have been killed 639 of them children 24,27 civilians have been injured 1,577 of them children this July was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine in almost two two years at least 219 civilians were killed and 1,8 injured tragically these figures only grow as missiles shells and drones continue to hit cities towns and Villages across Ukraine daily in the past two days hundreds of missiles and drones reportedly killed at least 11 people and hit energy and other critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine damage was reported in 15 regions with at least 11 energy facilities effective this vast destruction further aggravates the already precarious access to energy and water for millions of people days earlier on 24 August amidst escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine a missile struck a hotel in the town of Kato donet region of Ukraine a Reuters staff member was killed and four Jour journalists injured similar attacks on hotels restaurants markets and shopping areas in frontlight communities have been reported we are also concerned about the impact of the spread of fighting on the civilian population on both sides of the Ukraine Russia border in including in the Sumi and harif regions of Ukraine as well as in the ksk belgorod and Brians regions of the Russian Federation following the start of Ukraine's incursion into the ksk region on 6 August local Russian officials reported at least 12 people killed and 121 others injured according to local officials at least 130,000 people have been evacuated from the region Ohr has not received additional reports of Civilian casualties or related harm and is not able to confirm these reports as it has no access to the Russian Federation and the areas impacted by the fighting as the Secretary General repeatedly underlined attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable no matter where they occur these attacks are prohibited by International humanitarian law they must end immediately we urge all sides to act responsibly and ensure the protection of civilians Mr President we are alarmed regarding reported incidents around the nuclear facilities in Ukraine and Russia in AUST the international atomic energy agency iaea reported deterioration of the nuclear safety situation at Ukraine's zapia nuclear power plant on 17 August a drone strike hit the road around the site perimeter on 11 August significant fire at one of the cooling towers resulted in considerable damage the iaea team has also reported periodic intense military activity near the plant including sounds of frequent explosions repetitive heavy Machine Gun and Rifle fire and artillery at various distances from the plant concerns are also rising over nuclear Safety and Security in the ksk region of the Russian Federation on 22 August the Russian Federation informed the international atomic energy agency that remains of a drone were found within the territory of the ksk nuclear power plant we welcome yesterday's visit to the ksk nuclear power plant by iaea director General gry and his personal efforts to ensure nuclear Safety and Security in Russia and Ukraine we also commend iaea's ongoing monitoring of the situation at all of Ukraine's nuclear sites including Europe's largest plant in zapor Asia we continue to call for maximum restraint and vigilance to avoid a nuclear incident the consequences of which could be catastrophic to the region and the world Mr President after a decade of conflict in the east of Ukraine and occupation of the autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of sevastopol and following two and a half years of full scale War the suffering of the people in Ukraine continues unabated women in Ukraine are facing particular risks they make up 56% of the 15 million people in need of humanitarian assistance we are concerned about the reported 40 % increase in cases of gender-based violence in Frontline areas particularly in the east and south of Ukraine entire Villages and towns have been either partially or completely devastated according to oacr 546 medical facilities and 1,36 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed as we have previously briefed humanitarian operations in some areas lack access to people in need we remain deeply concerned about the 1.5 million people who we are unable to reach in parts of donet hon luhansk and zapia regions of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation like all others living close close to the front line in Ukraine they require urgent access to health care and Medicine food and clean drinking water in accordance with International humanitarian law humanitarian law it is imperative that impartial humanitarian relief be facilitated for all civilians in need the hostilities have displaced millions of Ukrainian people who continue to need our support nearly 3.7 million people have been internally displaced within Ukraine more than 6.6 million Ukrainian refugees have been recorded globally this year together with our partners the United Nations aims to reach 8.5 million people with life saving assistance including through to its winter response plan so far donors have provided 41% of the $3.1 billion US do required under the humanitarian needs and response plan we thank them for their generous contributions however the already dire humanitarian situation is expected to versen as hostilities show no signs of abating and the V winter approaches Mr President we welcome the recent exchanges of prisoners of War facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and other actors we encourage the science to step up these efforts to bring all prisoners of War home however we express serious concern about the treatment of prisoners of War held by the Russian Federation the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has reported that prisoners of War were subdued to prolonged and routine torture dire conditions of uh interment and repeated sexual violence prisoners of war must be treated in accordance with International humanitarian law Mr President we cannot allow the horrific Devastation of this war to become normalized now now more than ever it is critical for us to speak with one voice to ensure protection of civilians and to step up our urgent efforts towards peace next month the world leaders will gather for the summit of the future to forge new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and Safeguard the future we hope that this Summit will help enhance Global collaboration at the time when it is most urgently needed and we hope that these efforts will also bring us closer to laying the foundations for a just lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine in line with the UN Charter international law and resolutions of the general assembly the United Nations remains ready to support any meaningful efforts to this end thank you I thank Mr Yan chair for his briefing I now give the floor to those council members who wish to make statements I give the floor to the representative of Slovenia thank you very much Mr President and thank you very much for organizing the meeting today I would also like to thank assistant Secretary General yena for uh the briefing I believe it was useful for the council to hear uh the latest on the most extensive conventional War um the world has seen in decades so Mr President in the last two days we were reminded of the viciousness of this war when Russia launched one of the largest combined strikes we have seen since its beginning almost 300 drones and missiles heat apartment buildings and energy infrastructure across Ukraine including reportedly a Hydro power plant in the kyev region these unnova strikes against civilian and civilian infrastructure are blatantly violating International humanitarian law and need to stop immediately and there is no sign that the intensity of fighting is decreasing to the contrary as assistant Secretary General yena said the UN recorded more than 1,200 civilian casualties in July alone which makes it the deadliest month for civilians in almost two years this brings me to my first point the sheer extent of human life loss to this war instigated by Russia is intolerable and it compels us to look for peace adjust and Lasting peace for Ukraine and its peoples as we pass the 2 and a half year mark from the start of the war it is high time for a peace process to begin it is obvious that there cannot be peace without the involvement of and dialogue between all parties in this regard we hope that the Russian Federation will demonstrate genuine willingness to end the war and engage in good faith negotiations based on International norms and in full respect of the UN Charter secondly as the war keeps on ranging the stakes are getting higher this is especially obvious with regard to the Safety and Security of nuclear power plants in the region at the saporia nuclear power plant in the span of a single month we have seen fire in in one of its cooling towers power outages and a drone strike in the direct vicinity of the plant the situation is perilous and it will turn into devastating if the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear Safety and Security and the five basic principles for the protection of zoria nuclear power plant are not respected this does not hold just for the nuclear power plants on the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine but other nucle power plants and civilian nuclear facilities affected by armed conflict as well so colleagues Slovenia welcomes and fully supports IAA director General gross's activities in this regard we also believe this Council should address the importance of preventing civilian nuclear facilities becoming a Target or object of armed conflict any attack on civilian nuclear facility or the prevention of its normal operation could result an in an unimaginable long-term humanitarian and environmental disaster and we are ready to engage in order to prevent this Mr President it is devastating to see this war expanding in the territories eting gules and in destruction it causes this however does not absolve the council from its duty to ensure International Peace and security including in Ukraine Slovenia will not cease with it its Endeavors to build trust in order to secure the future of ukraini ukrainians and Russians for that matter with a just and Lasting peace thank you I thank the representative of Slovenia for their statement I give the floor to the representative of United States uh thank you Mr President and thank you assistant Secretary General yanf for your briefing on August 24 1991 Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union 2 and a half years ago Russia launched an unjustifiable full-scale invasion of Ukraine and today continues what is a decad long assault against Ukraine's Independence Ukraine has an inherent right to defend its independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity against Russia's aggression this right is enshrined in article 51 of the UN Charter Ukraine's people are fighting defying the kremlin's attempt to redraw Ukraine's borders by force they are fighting valiantly and heroically though Russia continues to brutally strike Ukraine's critical infrastructure as it did over the past weekend launching its largest aerial attack since the War Began a volley of hundreds of missiles and drones killing more than a dozen civilians and damaging energy facilities in July Russia hit Ukraine's okad Children's Hospital in Putin's war of choice Russia has forcibly transferred and deported thousands of civilians including children and cause 6.4 million refugees to flee the country and another 3.5 million to be internally displaced there is no justification for these acts today the Kremlin is endangering the zeria nuclear power plant we call on Russia to aced to the demand of a 100 of its fellow UN General Assembly members and return control of the plant to the rightful competent Ukrainian authorities Russia cannot and will not subjugate Ukraine the United States will continue to uphold the foundational principles of the UN Charter and support Ukraine against Russia's aggression as it preserves its independence Ukraine and the United States Made Concrete progress by signing a historic bilateral security agreement in June but we are not alone with the Ukraine compact 32 NATO allies and partners pledge to support Ukraine's immediate security needs and maintain Ukraine's long-term defense and deterrence capability Ukraine's Independence Day serves as a reminder of what is at stake the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial Integrity our commitment to those principles like our commitment to Ukraine will will not waver the United States will stand by Ukraine as it seeks a just and Lasting peace consistent with the UN Charter and when the world's leaders come to New York next month to reaffirm their commitment to the UN Charter they are also reaffirming their support for a basic principle Russia cannot redraw Ukraine's borders by force the United States once again calls on Russia to stop its Relentless attack against Ukraine and to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine's territory we hope that next year ukrainians will be able to celebrate their independence in peace thank you Mr President I thank the representative of the United States for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Japan thank you Mr President we would like to thank the United States and Slovenia for requesting this meeting and Sher Leon for arranging it I also thank ASG yena for his comprehensive briefing first and foremost We join the global community in congratulating all ukrainians on the 33rd anniversary of their independence on August 24th Ukraine has been fighting desperately for its independence sovereignity and territorial Integrity principles enshrined in the UN Charter that no one can undermine we are concerned about the use of seemingly neutral phrase of so-called war in Ukraine to divert attention from the true nature of the situation let me make it clear this unprovoked war against aggression uh this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has been brought by Russia this fact remains unchanged as clearly recognized by the overwhelming majority of the general assembly we express our deep respect for and strong solidarity with the Ukrainian people who have been defending their country for more than two and a half years our support has been unwavering from the outset Mr President in addition to violating the UN Charter Russia continues to disregard the Geneva conventions I would like to take a moment to reflect on what Russia's aggression has caused in Ukraine as we have heard from the briefer today there have been countless civilian casualities families have been torn apart by forc deportations of ukrainians including children countless critical civilian infrastructures such as power plants and dumps have been destroyed the continued occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power plants poses a risk of nuclear disaster the overall damage has been too extensive to enumerate fully despite being a permanent member of the security Council Russia continues to violate the related Security Council resolutions it has agreed too including importing missiles from North Korea for use in Ukraine Mr President the International Community must keep United on fundamental principles we reaffirmed our commitment to the international order based on the rule of law we strengthened our solidarity based on common values including respect for sovereignity and territorial Integrity as well as human rights and dignity to prevent any further attempts to change the status quo by force anywhere in the world we emphasize once again that Ukraine must Prevail and peace in Ukraine must be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter we continue to demand Russia's immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine we reiterate our unshakable position to adhering to the UN Charter and urge Russia to do the same I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Japan for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Republic of Korea uh thank you Mr President I extend my gratitude to ASG yena for his briefing I also welcome the participation of Ukraine Ukraine permanent representative at today's meeting on August 24th it was Ukraine's Independence Day which should have been a day of celebration of national sovereignty and unity but sadly ukrainians are still suffering from the ongoing conflict that has lasted already for 2 and a half years for the past few weeks we have witnessed a significant escalation along the battle fronts Ukraine's military operation within Russian territories was followed by Russia's intensified hostilities which caused the rising civilian casualties the mandatory evacuation of affected areas and renewed destruction of critical civilian infrastructure Russia's attacks including the vile large scale one on Monday involving hundreds of missile and drone strikes continue to threaten all ukrainians and plunge them into darkness just as they are approaching the third winter since the War Began at this point my delegation highlights the following points first we are deeply concerned about ongoing dangerous situation of zapia nuclear power plant following the increased military activities in its vicinity as a country operating 26 nuclear reactors on its soil and having hosted second nuclear security Summit in 2012 the Republic of Korea joins call for a halt to any and all escalator actions that risk a nuclear catastrophe all parties must Faithfully cooperate with iaea to prevent such an instant we appreciate the iaea's efforts to ensure the nuclear Safety and Security in the region since the War Began we are also closely monitoring the results of the iaea director General's visit to the crus nuclear power plant in Russia second as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Geneva conventions we deplore that these Landmark Global commitments for protecting victims of war continue to be blatantly ignored in Ukraine indiscriminate attack against civilians and civilian objects including energy infrastructure is in violation of international humanitarian law and must be condemned unequivocally the mistreatment of prisoners of war and detainees must also stop and ultimately those who committed war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine should be held accountable third we support the international community's diplomatic efforts to end this war in line with international law and the UN Charter affirming Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial Integrity even Aid the intense fighting on the ground we cannot lose hope for diplomacy at the same time as everybody in this chamber knows there is a simple and shorter path that is Russia's withdrawal of its TR troops from Ukraine's territories Mr President we note with great concern the Ukrainian authorities announcement that North Korea's ballistic missiles were used Again by Russia to strike Ukraine on July 31st and August 11th Russia cannot cover up its illegal procurement of North Korea's weapons and use of them against Ukraine which violate multiple Security Council resolutions we once again strongly urge Russia to fulfill its solemn responsibility as a permanent member of the security Council by haling its illegal military transactions with dprk we also condemn the dprk for being complicit in Russia's illegal Invasion prolonging the war in Ukraine and threatening International Peace and Security in wider regions including Europe and East Asia in closing Mr President to Republic of Korea with support to Ukraine until they achieve just and Lasting peace in their territories based on our bilateral Ukraine peace and solidarity initiative I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Republic of Korea for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Russian Federation thank you Mr President colleagues accredited reporters started asking us why MERS of in ask for a meeting on Ukraine this month is it they asked us that the United States allies decided to give up on their practice of artificially maintaining the Ukrainian issue Security Council regardless of what the real needs for its discussion by the Council of course we could not answer and provide an answer in place of our Western colleagues even we do have a version of people looked very unfavorable during the K adventure and that is what ukrainians themselves called The Reckless attack by the W colleagues simply could not hundred evidence showing that in course ukan nationalists are executing peaceful ciens including women and children that they strike against cars they launch drones and ambulances strikes against reporters and volunteers trying to save from Ukrainian executioners that they loot Russian Villages and then they post all of that in the internet destroy including resal building hospitals peaceful citizens and while they doing that they demonstra some evidence for that is already something that we have sh during the ARA meeting for the security Council MERS of AUST and since then their number has only grown this is happening at the territory which has no military facilities where which is mostly populated by peaceful women children and the elderly been IR refutable evidence appearing that the reg is intentionally shelling the course and is planning to take over it during a military operation this kind of Reckless could trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences for the entire continent of Europe and this is a best answer to those who is trying not to notice the KF regime attack against this is what your unprincipled ostrich like position leads to action is uncomfortable even to London and Brussels already in they have given a card blanch to the K and the W sponsors of thee also by fact that the true colors regime was shown during their attack on the course bless didn't to clear this is not the best backround possible to request a security council meeting and that's why our Western colleagues waited until the very end of the of the month and requested a meeting under the Hing that the thinking of the leader of the KF regime will become clear by now and there will be at least some positive outcomes by now of its adventurous and Reckless decision the rational of the reason for this suicide of course adventure of the Ukrainian president has not become clear in any way and the outcomes are even worse essentially Ukraine has suffered greatly in terms of servic and material but for some reason holds on to a few villages in and using for that very few re reserves including the ones taken from the East where because of that the Ukrainian front is collapsing the Russian every day we're liberating newer and newer Po in the recent days we liberated the list also includes the no Village which under the maidan authorities was being called New York for three years our units have already entered such important strategic points as which is going to become and and we are nearing the most important INR which is going to then become cross da in a to compared to July and became 11.2 s kilome and Rec it has reached the level of 30 square kilm it's important at the same time to remember that the absence of reserves used in well now ran up the last strongholds that the Ukrainian forces used to R since 2014 and this is only the beginning Ukraine will have to pay for the cor Adventure understand before the meeting today by the Western um co-conspirators of resid regime was with heavy heart the US and satellit at the same time need to bear in mind the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces in fighting using Western weapons they use and lose German American tanks and shell artillery and there in ksk you also have Western mercenaries in consult and this means that the Western participation in the crimes of the K regime has become even more obvious this is something we're going to discuss on the 30th of August at the meeting on Western weapons supplies therefore expecting that the United States and it NATO allies are going to be objective or even Humane in ating what is being done by the Ukrainian murders and terrorists would be naive but for such a reasons our Western colleagues do have the formula about the right of KF to self defense and protection from Russian aggression and we have heard these Expressions today in this room they sounded false and we'll continue hearing them representative of the United States this morning stated uh in quote that no one member of Security Council when encoun encountering a Terr organization on this border will not tolerate daily attacks and will not tolerate tolerate displacement of tens of thousands of its citizens area but such a position the United States have is reserved for Israel exclusively when it comes to um crimes against Russia and Russians Washington has not been paying attention for that for a long time Mr President undertaken by the Ukrainian president has one more consquence we Rec that June President of Russia put for a peace proposal on Ukraine if refle a realistic situation the front and takes into account ukan after that the retor of the ukrainians become more peacing and many from the global South rush to the conclusion that we reaching the state of peace negotiations those of you who thought that way did not take into account that the cave regime can not enter into any kind of an agreement this was shown in the case of the Minsk agreements and also the peace agreement which was um initialized in Istanbul and this this time as well the K regime deceived everyone who talked about peace together with them instead they decided for escalation of they attack the cist and all of the questions were removed this way and I do hope that no one is left with any kind of we never why implementing the targets of a special military operation peace on Ukraine which is something that the zy regime is not interested in colleagues I would like you to call upon those bring political games bying Elites and look at the example of Ukraine and you will see what this kind ofra was The Wealth of Republic great military potential and it now became one of the poorest states of the former USSR it econom destroyed its industry is destroyed its land is being sold to Western Corporation it's became a platform for American B Laboratories and now is a platform for the testing of Western we introducing Western has led to the total option of freedom of speech or and even freedom of religion recently thousand of political presidents to the dictatorship of president president who not only did not Implement any of it Promises of made before the election war with Russia interest and result of also in addition to that TR under constitution of his own country and throwing into the meat grer hundreds of thousands of the of it Nationals just to keep on to power this is a true um sad outcome that Ukraine has achieved by 33rd anniversary of its independence that is the cost of the mistakes and blunders made by the Ukrainian leadership so is to please the West probably understanding that this year the Western countries previous deed to even go foro any kind of action in support of Ukraine instead of they decided to spend time in The Well of Geneva discing the which are which were being at the same time violated in KK I would to say believe that the blood Ukrainian tragedy provoked by the United States and NATO and that this will serve as a lesson for anyone who could potentially end up in a similar situation I thank you I thank the representative of Russian Federation for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Guyana thank you Mr President I thank ASG yena for the update provided and welcome the participation of the representatives of Ukraine the European Union Romania Denmark Poland and lvia in today's meeting Mr President while today's meeting was convened to discuss the political and security situation in Ukraine we will be remissed to not speak at the outset about the ongoing violations of international law violations that continue to bring death and destruction to civilians on both sides as the war spreads farther away from the front lines with each passing day each month we continue to receive alarming reports s of Civilian casualties mostly occurring in Ukraine since February 2022 over 34,000 civilians men women and children have borne the brunt of thousands of attacks July Mr yena reminded has been the deadliest for Ukraine we deplore the continued attacks against civilians and civilian objects despite numerous calls by this Council and the general assembly for full adherence to International humanitarian law including the principles of Distinction proportionality and precaution we demand an immediate end to all attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects and indeed call upon the parties to the conflict to desist from launching such indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks we also stressed the need for accountability for all such violations GH further demands that the conflict parties take constant care to protect civilians and civilian objects from harm and all necessary measures to minimize the risk of Civilian injury death and damage to civilian property the status quo cannot allow to continue every UN member state has an obligation to abide by the UN Charter and The Wider body of international law Mr President with each life lost each family torn apart and each home bombed anger and hatred spread and the prospect for peace diminishes Guyana therefore stresses the urgency of resolving this conflict through peaceful means prolonging it will only exacerbate the risks and consequences for all concerned and further threaten International Peace and security as I have stated previously innocent lives cannot continue to be sacrificed at the altar of political brinkmanship we must choose peace we therefore reiterate our call to the parties to commit to a serious political and diplomatic process toward ending the conflict we urge them to engage in good faith to bring an end to the suffering of the millions of men women and children who have already paid too high a price Mr President as we have just heard from ASG yena the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is dire it will only get worse as the winter season approaches Guyana urges the International Community to give increased attention to the plight of the 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine and to scale up support for the humanitarian needs and response plan we call for continued international support for the victims of this war including medical psychological and legal support with particular attention to children and survivors of sexual violence we further stress the need for access to be granted to the people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in the occupied territories we call upon the Russian Federation to Grant humanitarian access to all populations in need in these territories Guyana also calls for the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine in closing Mr President Guyana will continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful and sustainable end to this War I thank you I thank the representative of Gana for their statement I give the floor to the representative of China president I thank ASG yena for his briefing since the Ukraine crisis fully escalated in February 2022 2 years and a half have passed these two years and a half have witnessed protracted fighting on the ground deteriorating humanitarian crisis and ever unfolding spillover effects this is tragic and worrisome since the beginning of this month the war has taken a new turn with both parties to the conflict thrown into a new round of fierce fighting leading to severe casualties and infrastructure damages the endless protection of the war will bring nothing but more harm more damages and finally a loose loose outcome making an already turbulent world even more unpredictable in of the increasing CIA and complex situation China has repeated repeatedly stressed on many occasions that the current priority is to follow the principles of no spillover of the battlefield no escalation of the fighting and no fueling of Flames by any party with a view to achieving deescalation as soon as possible we welcome the new round of prisoners exchange between Russia and Ukraine under the good offices of U we once again call on both parties to stay calm exercise restraint abide by IHL in real earnest refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure or nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes we call on all parties to the conflict to demonstrate political will move towards each other cease the fighting and launch PE talks at and early we call on the International Community to uphold an objective and impartial position and to this end create favorable conditions and provide concrete support president despite the p and turns on the path towards peace China has been committed to working for peace and promoting as long as it is conducive to alleviating the situation and facilitating negotiations China is there making its efforts recently the Chinese government's special representative for Europe and Asia visited Brazil South Africa and Indonesia for the fourth round of Shadow diplomacy on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis during the exchanges all parties highly commended the Jo consensus proposed by China and Brazil on the question of Ukraine they all expressed worries about the escalation of the conflict and un un unanimously called for early launch of peace talks China is ready to continue its close communication with the global South and other relevant countries and make unremitting efforts towards a political settlement in conclusion I wish to reiterate that on question of Ukraine China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial Integrity of all countries should be respected that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed that the reasonable security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously and that all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crisis should be supported based on the above mentioned four principles the four sh mentioned above China will continue to work for a political settlement thank you president I thank the representative of China for their statement I give the floor to the represent ofor Secretary General we find ourselves at a critical moment recent events that have further and inse only incling children Ur need assistance violence and create suffering civilians prot ofans should guide any response in the context of of international human law should be preserved and this is true times of War there are norms which we must nuclear security is an issue which deserves our greatest attention of nuclear facil in Ukraine and Russia is absolutely unac I further Echo call of the director as to protect nuclear power also to any humanarian and environmental disaster be impossible to imagine is to ination gr risk of an escalation stabilize not just the region World security my country reates as it is done systematically that as members of this organization we are compelled respect principles that were univers accepted under because to the contrary what we doing is enshrining the Latin expression intera of the law by hence the importance ofing without na B all of the organiz from resorting to the threat of the of force or the of any state of theal order which we have all agreed to protect and to promot president Excell colleagues toward deescalation toward containing the conflict and hostilities should not allow War to normalized istion DIY compal integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within internally recognized borders to conclude is the major responsibility of to maintain International Peace and security thus we urge the members of this Council to act determination and fully adhere to the principles of the charter to put an end to this devastating conflict a goal for which you can count on Ecuador's support to achieve it thank you I thank the representative of eador for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Switzerland mer assistant secetary yena for his intervention just as my colleagues did before me ear this week UK in parts of country once again woke up to the sound of um warning sirens and explosions Russia's massive attacks on cities and power grids in recent to days have again claimed victims and caused extensive damage switzland condemns the continued strikes on Ukraine energy infrastructure these developments remind us that 2 and a half years after the start of the military aggression human losses the destruction of houses and the collaps of all kinds of certainties continue unabated from the very beginning Switzerland has unequivocally condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine it is a violation of the fundamental rules and principles in in the United Nations chter a few days after the anniversary of its independence I reaffirm Switzerland's Firm support for Ukraine sovereignty and territorial Integrity within internationally recognized borders after 30 long months and as we want with concern of the particularly intense hostilities and tensions in easn Ukraine and in the Border areas areas of action require our immediate attention first respect for international humanitarian law must be an absolute and non-negotiable imperative we have just commemorated the 75th anniversary of Geneva conventions together we recall the universal um commitments undertaken in particular the protection of the civilian population and the property needs to be ured according to Ohr figures and as assistant secretary in pointed out last month was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since October 2022 on average every day a school hospital or a medical facility is damaged or destroyed in Ukraine Switzerland urges all parties to the comp to comply strictly with their obligations including those arising from the principles of Distinction proportionality and precaution in the conduct of hostilities every violation of international human law is unacceptable efforts to achieve accountability must continue investigations violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and the prosecution of international crimes are essential to restore Injustice Switzerland supports accountability efforts at both National and international level in particular the work of the international criminal court in this regard we welcome Ukraine's decision to ratify the Rome statute accession to the statute is crucial for the ICC to deliver Justice to victims and deter future atrocities we also stress the need for holistic support for victims and their families initia such as the register of damage as well as special attention to psychological needs are essential thir pointal to peace in accordance with the UN Charter we Ur all those concretely and constructively towards a peace process of process which is just and Lasting peace based on fundamental principles of international law Switzerland remains committed to supporting these efforts and and underes it conviction that peace is a we reiterate the appeal made at the summit on peace in Ukraine to the parties concerned to guarantee interia nuclear Safety and Security it is to engage in an exchange of views that will lead me in this area international humanarian law as well as the five principles established by the IAA in this Council must be upheld Mr President please allow me to conclude with the words of a Ukrainian couple they said they said we had everything but now we're just happy to be alive I would like to express Switzerland solidarity with the Ukrainian people who have suffered the ravages of this war for far too long for the sake of International Peace and security this war must end therefore renew our urgent appeal to Russia to cease all hostilities and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory I thank you I thank the representative of Switzerland for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Algeria thank you Mr President I thank assistant Secretary General Miroslav Ginga for his briefing at the outside I would like to express algeria's deep concern over the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation induced by the military operation both in Ukraine and Russia the situation continues to be driven by the logic of escalation aiming to threaten military position on the ground in the meantime civilians continue to be affected by this conflict with the increasing loss of Civilian lives and suffering as well as the worse humanitarian situation more concerning is the absence of any foreseen peaceful political solution or Prospect of this escalation confrontation and polarization remain unfortunately the main drivers of this conflict against this backdrop Algeria would like to make three critical points first it's urgent to reverse the trend and to dis escalate tensions by ceasing hostility and abiding by international law and international humanitarian law attacks against civilian and the destruction of Civilian infrastructure are unequivocally prohibited by international law second the continued polarization of this crisis remains a source of concern for Algeria it contributes to polling the the crisis by nurturing escalation between the parties with adverse repercussions on International Peace and security third this escalation should go hand in hand with intensifying diplomatic efforts to get the parties around the table for an inclusive and constructive dialogue and negotiations only this way could guarantee a peaceful settlement of this conflict where the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are upheld and the legitimate security of both parties are met Mr President we believe that whatever the reason and motivations leading to a conflict the party and the international Comm Community should never take it as irreversible as soon as dialogue is genuinely engaged peace May emerge for the darkness of the most intricate confrontation I thank you I thank the representative of Algeria for the state statement I give the flooor to the representative of United Kingdom thank you president and I thank ASG Ina for his briefing colleagues as we discuss the situation in Ukraine today we are once again compelled to highlight the continued barbarity of President Putin's tactics against the Ukrainian people last weekend Ukraine marked its third independence day since Russia Russia's illegal Invasion instead of celebrating ukrainians were fighting for their country their land and their families they are also fighting on behalf of all our countries in defense of the principles on which this institution the United Nations was founded that every member state has the right to sovereignty and territorial integrity and borders cannot be withdrawn by force let us be clear under article 51 Ukraine has a right of self-defense the UK and other allies fully support Ukraine in exercising that right President Putin thought keev would fall within days he was wrong and Ukrainian courage continues to prove him wrong every day Russia is getting increasingly desperate as we heard again today and as it does the attacks become more cowardly on Monday Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine striking numerous civilian areas further attacks took place on Monday night and Tuesday morning at least seven people were killed and many more injured we were deeply saddened to learn that a British national Ryan Evans was also killed in recent attacks over 35,000 civilians in Ukraine have been confirmed killed or injured since Russia's Invasion began these most recent attacks represented represent continued evidence that Russia is intentionally targeting civilian energy infrastructure risking further humanitarian crisis this coming winter to be clear intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects constitute a war crime at the same time the consequence of Putin's miscalculation for the Russian people is increasingly evident this week's attack alone cost Russia almost $1.3 billion it is estimated that more than 1,000 Russian troops were either killed or wounded on Monday alone so once again we call on Russia to end its illegal Invasion and immediately withdraw its forces the UK along with our International Partners will not falter in our support for Ukraine we will stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes to secure a just and sustainable peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law I thank you I thank the representative of United Kingdom for their statement I give the floor to the representative of France to for his briefing the Ukrainian people the International Community on the 24th of August celebrated it 3 anniversary of indpendence Independence which Ukraine has been courageously defending for over 900 days now against the Russian aggression the 24th of February 2022 Russ motivated by imperialist and destructive determination began its War oppression at a large scale against Ukraine which is sovereign country that didn't threaten it at all since then Ukrainian men and women have courageously been exercising a legitimate right to defend their sovereignty and territorial through this they fight to defend the principles of the United Nations Char two years after the celebration in the Ukrainian capital of the anniversary Russia attacked energy infrastructure in drones and missiles it was the most largest one since the beginning of the conflict and continues this cynical strategy with the new attack on the 26th and 27th of a after 30 months of War Russia continues to deliber Target civilians and civilian infr to try to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian we reiterate this Russia must respect international humanarian law and stop it card strategy of UNS suffering unspeakable suffering for C France of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children once again this year the Secretary General put Russia on the infamous list for it report on children in our conflict Russia continues to be guilty of murder mutilation and transfer ofal Mr President France alongside its Partners has mobilized since the very first of the Russian aggression so that the authors of the crimes committed against Ukraine can be identified and prosecuted and their crimes doc France will continue to support the work of the IC and Ukrainian Court jurisdic Comm authorization granted by the Ukrainian Parliament for Ukraine to ratify the Rome statute which will facilitate investigations we are now a few weeks away from the sum of the future where the world leaders will gather around the Secretary General to our Comon future and at this time Russia should stop continuing to destabilize the world which is already grappling with withraw its troops from ukan territory with its internationally recognized borders and put an end to its aggression thank you I thank the representative of France for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Malta thank you president and I also thank a Jena for their briefing more than two years in Russia was war on aggression against Ukraine continues to demonstrate disregard for Global Peace and security international law and multilateralism as we speak hostilities in the northeast of Ukraine continue unabated recent attacks in donque K keran and Sumi regions are impacting civilians causing damage suffering and destruction to Ukraine and her people who continue to suffer the brunt of War on a daily basis specifically the security situation in the dones and sui regions has significantly worsened in recent weeks with intense shelling by Russian forces against various cities this escalation has led to the loss of 16 civilian lives 22 others have been injured furthermore local authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation for families with children in pffr and Russian as Russian troops approach this underscores the severity of the threats faced by those living in the Frontline communities no place in Ukraine is safe on 20th August an attack targeted a children's Cafe in the zapara region resulted in the loss of a 14-year-old boy and severe injuries to six other children this attack further increases the mounting to all on civilian casualties including children due to Russia's use of banned weapons such as clust ammunitions and explosive weapons in populated areas as you have heard today by our briefer July was deadliest month since the start of Russia's war of aggression Malta calls upon all parties to respect International humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and civil infrastructure we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the humanitarian workers risking their lives to provide critical assistance in these challenging circumstances president Malta is deeply concerned about the increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine by Russian forces including the recent strike on 22nd August against a Transit Center for newly displaced people in pokrov this resulted in serious damage and the eventual deactivation of the site due to security concerns we stress once again civilians are not a Target children are not a Target civilian infrastructure is not a Target humanitarian facilities are not a Target they are all protected under International humanitarian law we welcome the recent exchanges of prisoners of War facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and other actors we encourage the site to step up these efforts to bring all prisoners of War home we remain firm in our belief that those responsible for perpetrating serious crimes under international law must be held accountable perpetrators cannot and must not go unpunished to this end we reiterate our full support to the Mandate of the international criminal court the independent International Commission of inquir on Ukraine as well as to the register of damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine to conclude president Malta will continue to call for the full respect of the UN Charter in response to Russia's war of aggression we also to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity within its internationally recognized borders I thank you I thank the representative of Malta for their statement I give the floor to the representative of mosambik Mr President I I thank assistant Secretary General Miroslav yansa for his insights I also welcome the the participation of the permanent representative of Ukraine in this meeting Mr President is it is more than two years that our repeated calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and deescalation have remained disregarded this total disregard for peace is deeply troubling civilians continue to Bear the brand of the war as the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and the rules of War including the tenants of un charta are consistently and flagrantly violated on a daily basis this is unconscionable given the gravity of the situation we wish to emphasize the following critical points first the military approach has proven unrealistic and untenable as a means to resolve this conflict it is its escalatory nature now threatens The Wider region potentially leading to devastating consequences for Europe and the world at at a large second the strongly we strongly urge the Waring parties to recommit without delay to confidence building measures it is imperative that the underlying grievances that have led to this calamitus state of Affairs be addressed decisively through dialogue and honest negotiations third we call the contestant parties to seize hostilities without delay and resume direct negotiations without preconditions we insist that there is simply no other way left other than to engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue in good faith lastly we call for the scr respect of humanitarian safeguards and for the parties to ensure the safe passage of civilians and unhindered delivery of essential supplies to all affected areas to conclude Mr President mosm reiterates its firm conviction for political and negotiated solution as the only viable way to end this conflict and lay the foundation for lasting and sustainable peace between between the two neighboring countries where there is a will there is a way I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of mozambik for their statement I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of seron colleagues I thank Slovenia and United States for requesting this meeting and I thank ASG mlav yra for his help helpful briefing I welcome the participation of the representative of Ukraine in this meeting s is deeply concerned about the security and humanitarian situation in Ukraine which continues to detate and escalate the conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing for two and a half years with no seeming end Insight but with increasingly High numbers of casualities and destruction of Civilian infrastructure in recent months the conflict has escalated drastically and the battlefield has expanded as Russia has reportedly intensified its offensive further to the Northeast and Ukraine reportedly continues to expand the battlefield in the C region of the Russian Federation this escalation and purported gains on both sides reaffirm the fact that a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine is clearly not feasible and underscores that dialogue and negotiations represent the only viable means to resolve the conflict s is deeply concerned about the seeming strategic approach to Annex territories I would therefore reiterate the UN secret General's previous statement that and I quote any anation of a state territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law end of quote we also recall Security Council resolution 2202 to reaffirming its full respect for the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of Ukraine in a similar manner we affirm the full respect for the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of the Russian Federation in view of the above we urge all parties to create conditions conducive to holding direct talks at the earliest possible time frame and to actively work towards the escalation until ceasefire can be achieved as we navigate the various complexities of the conflict including the political context it is important that we also continue to highlight the security situation which continues to detate with devastating impact on the civilian population in the past week civilian casualties and injuries have reportedly risen in both Ukraine and Russia control areas in addition to the July deest numbers between 22nd and 25th August the human rights monitory mission to Ukraine verified that six civilians were killed and 32 injured in next oblast as well as 14 civilians casuality in sska oblast as reported The Continuous attacks have also damaged numerous civilian facilities across Ukraine and Russia attacks have reportedly continued to Target Ukraine electricity and gas facilities as well as sites it claim to be storing Western weapons weapons for instance the recent reported attacks across 15 regions in Ukraine caused serious damage to infrastructure living 250,000 families and business ENT entities in SAR oblast without electricity disrupted water supplies and damage Railway infrastructure one of the last remaining power stations a hydro electric electric plant north of Kiev was one of the latest targets and it damage reportedly is still being assessed as Ukraine approaches thir winter since the start of the conflict in February 2022 this attack on energy infrastructure continue to inflict severe suffering on millions of people s reter attacks against civilian and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law we call on all sides to ensure compliance with applicable international law including International humanitarian law colleagues we know that to address the winter specific needs the humanitarian Community launched a 2024 2025 winter response plan appealing for 42.1 million United States dollars to support 1.8 million people with critical winter related humanitarian assistance as outlined in the 2024 humanitarian needs and response plan the plan intends to supply timely preparedness and response SK calls upon the International Community to support this plan with fiscal assistance to address the pressing needs of the people enhance living conditions and ensure access to inal Services let me close by reiterating that based on the Sant nature of the UN Charter and its principles including on the respect for the sovereignty and territorial Integrity of member State we call for the full respect of the national sovereignty and territorial Integrity of Ukraine as well as the Russian Federation within the international recognized borders so once more calls for good faith diplomatic effort in pursuit of a peaceful resolution involving the parties to the conflict we therefore welcome the exchange of prisoners of War facilitated by United Arab Emirates meaningful steps must be taken towards the immediate cation of hostilities we urge parties to the conflict to engage constructively including on their legitimate concerns to find a political and diplomatic solution as envisage in article 33 of the UN Charter I thank you I resume my function as president of the council the representative of the United State has asked for the floor to make a further statement I give them the floor uh thank you Mr President I I will be brief um the representative of the Russian Federation who uh once again left the room immediately after delivering a package of Miss and disinformation lies and propaganda bragged about liberating uh Ukraine uh parts of Ukraine and uh in essence taking possession of of these parts of Ukraine well Ukraine is not Russian territory to liberate and take possession of Ukraine is a sovereign independent state and will remain so uh the US and uh its allies will continue to help Ukraine uh in its self-defense uh Russia's efforts to redraw Ukraine's um borders as many UN member states have said are a clear-cut violation of the UN Charter while Russia and let's not forget a permanent member of the security Council continues to drive a stake through the heart of said Charter the Us and other like-minded member states will continue to uphold the charter and oppose moscow's brutal war of aggression thank you Mr President I thank the representative of the United States for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Ukraine well thank you Mr President uh distinguished members of the security Council assistant Secretary General yena I also recognize the continued occupation of the seat of the Soviet Union by a lonely sad junior staff member of the Russian Mission the beginning of the week was again marked by Russia's intense and massive missile and drone strikes against Ukraine primarily our critical energy infrastructure industrial facilities and residential buildings on Monday August 26th Russia launched at least 109 drones and 127 missiles of various types Cruise ballistic and air ballistic on 15 Ukrainian regions and on the capital city Kiev the Defense Forces of Ukraine were able to intercept 102 missiles and 99 drones yesterday on August 27 Russia launched 81 drones and 10 missiles on 16 regions of Ukraine 60 drones and five missiles were shot down we reiterate our gratitude to all allies that contribute to enhancing Ukraine's air defense and thus saving the lives of people at the same time the missiles and drones that were not intercepted caused severe damaged and increased the number of casualties one of the victims was killed in their apartment in the city of Lotz following a drone attack footage clearly shows that before the strike the Drone sustained no external interference it was not jammed or intercepted it first reached an altitude of 100 to 150 M locked onto the Target and began on its uh precise trajectory towards it among the Russian targets heat on Monday was the Kev hydroelectric power plant and its Dam by attacking this facility Russians continue to dream of repeating what they managed to do in kovka in June 20123 that is to destroy the dam and to flood the territories Downstream along the Neo River in this case the capital of Ukraine and its outskirts the most densely populated areas of Ukraine Mr President for over two years Ukraine has been withstanding the largest AAL Terror in human history since the beginning of the fullscale invasion Russia has launched over 9,600 missiles nearly 14,000 attack drones and more than 33,000 guided aerial boombs just imagine this number of deadly weapons dropped on on our homes schools hospitals power stations the costs of these attacks are difficult to calculate on August 26 alone Russia spent about 1.3 us 1.3 billion US dollar shelling Ukraine this money might have been spent on improving the life of ordinary Russians according to the United Nations a quarter of them have never had access to centralized sewage systems however we are speaking about Russia and its criminal regime the regime that has plunged its country into a profound crisis the elements of the Russian crisis include a complete disregard for human lives both of its own citizens and those of other nationalities a lack of humanity and morality and growing inadequacy both internally and on the international stage that is why Russia hopes to spend its revenues on killing ukrainians among the most recent appalling attacks was a strike on a supermarket in the center of constantina the nesk region on August 9 the Russian missile killed at least 14 civilians including three children and injured 44 others on August 20 a Russian mil artillery shell struck a children's playground in the village of Mala kinva Zaria region killing one child and injuring three other children on August 25th Russia deliberately targeted a hotel in the city of kator theask region with with an isander missile a reuter team along with with local residents and workers were among those who suffered from the strike unfortunately a safety adviser from from the UK was killed and two journalists were injured one of them seriously these are just a few of Russia's barbaric war crimes all of them must be condemned and punished Mr President president there is a clear distinction between the parties in this war Russia attempts to annihilate Ukraine which is why it targets residential buildings stores and critical infrastructure Ukraine wants to stop the violence and to diminish Russia's capacity to attack therefore we aim at legitimate military targets including places of concentration of Russian troops and Equipment arms and Fuel deports and Logistics centers recently Ukraine forces attacked military air bases Sava savasa in Novar region and marinovka in wagad region these attacks damaged or destroyed combat aircraft and weapons including guided aerial missiles we will continue to eliminate Russia's com combat potential regard regardless of the threats Putin's Representative makes here and The Fakes he spreads responding to him is a waste of our time and un resources he does not influence the decision- making process in his country his Capital does not take into account his reports even if he ever reported the truth therefore I would rather address members of the security Council who despite Toler a in the toxic presence of the Putin's Envoy in the chamber realize the scope of the threats to Bo International Security and The credibility of the council we urge you and all Partners to consider two specific decisions to help us put an end to Russian Terror sooner first to acknowledge Ukraine's right to long range strikes on all legitimate military targets throughout Russian territory second to engage Partners air defense capabilities to shoot down missiles and drones close to their airace none of these steps are escalatory on the contrary they will deter Russia reduce Terror and the number of casualties at this moment Russia has put everything on the line to advance in donbas all all traditional methods are being used by Russian military commanders including continuous meat grinder meat grinder assaults and complete destruction of settlements to a moonlike surface currently Russia is Raising to the ground raising to the ground the city of pakros in Danes region aiming to advance on the ruins with no residence and no intact buildings this is what Russia called calls liberation of dbas dozens of dbas cities and Villages have been completely destroyed and depopulated during these Liber liberations Ukraine will continue fighting against these current day barbarism everywhere including in the territory of Russia that is why Ukraine could not stand idly by observing Russia's military buildup in ksk region and is preparations for Attack on Ukraine's sui region similar to the Russian offensive on harv from the belgrad region this may responding to this danger Ukraine launched a defensive operation in designated areas of the K region due to these preventive actions the immediate danger of occupation of sui has decreased the dictators confusion has been evidence by the fact that he could not find the strengths and courage to appear before the public for several days recently an unpleasant truth was revealed about poorly equipped and inexperienced conscripts abandoned by their commanders and readily surrendered and about the mass Looting of local residents and businesses property Properties by Russian soldiers in the past Russians in infected by Propaganda dismissed similar videos of Russian looters filmed in Ukraine as fake now they are shocked by video footage from the ksk region where Russian soldiers were again stealing this time from their own fellow citizens while carrying out the operation in the ksk region the Ukrainian Army strictly adheres to international human Arian law we also have no political plans regarding these areas that contradict the UN Charter I would like to underline that the goal of the operation is strictly defensive at the same time Ukraine establishes military administrations to ensure order and normal life for the local population ample video footage as valid reports by the international media give proof to the Humane treatment by Ukrainian servicemen towards the local civilian population as well as towards towards Russian prisoners of war the latter are safe in Ukrainian captivity and Ukraine is ready to ensure their Swift exchange for Ukrainian PWS Sunday's exchange proves our resoluteness to bring all our soldiers and illegally detained civilians out of Russian captivity as soon as possible unlike like the Humane treatment by Russian po of of Russian PWS by Ukraine our servicemen captured by Russia face cruelty and torture unfortunately more crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of War have been recorded recently for instance the prosecutor General's office of Ukraine is investigating footage which appeared on August 17 and show soldiers of Russian Russia's one 155th Naval infantry Brigade with what appears to be a a severe head of a Ukrainian servicemen put upon a spike in the background we are extremely concerned about the fate of Ukrainian servicemen in Russian prisons as they remain subject to ill treatment and torture leading to death in July Ukrainian P Alexander iska former Soldier the 12 Special Forces aov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine was killed in rostov detention facility in Russia according to a forensic report made in Ukraine his death was caused by blunt force trauma to his chest multiple reap fractures and shock torture in captivity including with fatle outcomes is a deliberate and S sanctioned practice by the Russian side as recently stated by Danielle Bell the head of the UN Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine in an interview with a Dutch television I quote torture is regular and widespread affecting over 95% of prisoners end of quote at the same time she emphasized that the treatment of Russian po double use in Ukraine is entirely different and international access to them is is ensured we remain convinced that the security Council should address the app pooling situation with the ill treatment and torture of Ukrainian PWS by Russia we also reiterate the inadmissibility of Russia's excluding as of servicemen from prisoner exchanges and demand this shameful practice be stopped Mr president Ukraine remains committed to the peace process is aimed at seizing violence hostilities and violations of international law the comprehensive just and Lasting peace should should and will be based on the principles of the UN Charter this is the core of the Ukrainian peace formula the implementation of which is well underway the expended meeting of the working group on on energy security took place on August 22nd to discuss the contribution to the peace framework to be presented at the second peace Summit this conference on energy security has opened a series of events aimed at implementing the agreements reached at the inaugural peace Summit in Switzerland we encourage all peac loving states to engage in in further process and contribute to the restoration of international law and the multilateral security architecture I thank you I thank the representative of Ukraine for their statement I now give the floor to his Excellency Mr stavos lambrinides head of the delegation of European Union to the United Nations thank you very much Mr President I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its member states the candidate countries North Macedonia Montenegro Ukraine the Republic of mova and Bosnia and herova as well as Armenia aeran andur mon and San Marino align themselves with this statement I would like to give off by thanking ASG yancha for your briefing coming after a new series of massive Russian attacks it once again reminded us as if reminding was necessary of the dramatic consequences of Russia's illegal unprovoked unjustified aggression against Ukraine and its people last Saturday last Saturday exactly 2 and A2 years since Russia's fullscale Invasion millions of ukrainians celebrated their independence day a hard fought Independence one that Russia has been trying its utmost to undo by sheer force for two and a half years one that Ukraine on its part has been forced to exercise its inherent right of self-defense to protect to restore it his territorial integrity and to protect its existence as an independent sovereign country and member of these United Nations under international law Ukraine has the right to take actions to protect itself from Russian attacks under international law Russia must fully abide by the order of the international court of justice of March 22 and immediately and un conditionally withdraw all of its troops from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine while ukrainians courageously defend their country Russia further intensifies its attacks on civilian infrastructure including Ukraine's energy sector not only does it not withdraw its troops it is intensifying its ilal attacks according to the office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights July was the deadliest month for civilians in almost 2 years with at least 2019 killed over 1,000 injured 60 children included in those numbers we repeat our call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally halt its systematic air strikes against Ukraine civilians and civilian in critical infrastructure which violate International humanitarian law on Monday in one of its largest air strike since the beginning of its aggression Russia hit the keev hydro elective power plant the UN has the UN has repeatedly documented Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure as well as its use of so-called double tap strikes where it uses high Precision weapons to strike the same location twice within a short interval causing additional casualties among civilians and first respondents Russia dear colleagues shows a similar disregard for the welfare of civilians in the areas in temporary occupies by unlawfully impeding the delivery of humanitarian relief the UN the UN has frequently highlighted the challenge of reaching civilians in areas currently under temporary Russian occupation this means an estimated 1 .5 million people are being cut off from humanitarian Aid in accordance with International humanitarian law Russia must facilitate full safe rapid unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need we furthermore remain deeply concerned about the fate of all Ukrainian children unlawfully deported and transferred to Russia and bellarus Mr President Russia and its leadership must must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression and for other most serious crimes under international law as well as for the massive damage caused by their War ensuring accountability for violations of international law is necessary to deliver Justice for ongoing atrocities and can deter future ones a lack of accountability on the other hand only emboldens the aggressor and its accomplices I reiterate the eu's support for the comprehensive just and Lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter to this end Russia the aggressor must end its war of aggression and withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine other countries must refrain from any actions that may amount to complicity the EU welcomes the outcome of the Summit on peace in Ukraine in June we ask all countries to continue supporting a comprehensive just and Lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law president allow me to close by reaffirming once again the eu's unwavering support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity with its interally recognized borders every countries in independent sovereignty territorial Integrity certainly Ukraine's we will continue to support Ukraine and to defend the UN Charter in response to Russia's illegal aggression and we will do so for as long as it takes thank you Mr President I thank his Excellency Mr laines for his statement I now give the floor to the representative of Romania thank you very much Mr President and I want to thank you and the council for the opportunity to speak um and participate in today's meeting I also want to thank ASG ych for the briefing uh Mr President this week members of this Council just returned from a visit to Geneva to Mark 75 years since the adoption of the Geneva conventions and today these commitments are the taken by International Community in the aftermath of the second world war continue to be seriously undermined and we do fail to put a stop to the suffering civilians innocent victims of a of aggression we reiterate the need for the United Nations humanitarian Personnel to be granted access to distribute life- saving aid for the benefit of the Ukrainian civilians their protection from indiscriminate attacks is a must Mr President for more than two and two years and a half Ukraine is making use of a legal provision from the UN Charter it's inherent right to self-defense peace needs to be built on the UN Charter and the basic principles of international law Romania supports the peace initiative of president zalinski as the only way to adjust and Lasting peace we hope for This Promise of peace to deliver results before the end of this year failure in this endeavor will result into another difficult winter for Ukrainian civilians disruptions in hitting might trigger another wave of internally displaced persons or refugees in wintertime we remain very concerned about the continuation of attacks by the Russian Federation against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure of Ukraine endangering the population of Ukraine and neighboring States alike I would also like to address the issue of nuclear safety the resolution of um called Safety and Security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine including the zosia nuclear power plant adopted last month by the general assembly called for the immediate cessation of attacks by the Russian Federation against critical energy infrastructure of Ukraine which increased the risk of a nuclear accident or incident at all nuclear facilities of Ukraine we reiterate this imperative and our support for the work of the IAA in ensuring nuclear Safety and Security in Ukraine and another message that my delegation would like to register is the following there is no space for irresponsible actions towards or at nuclear facilities Mr President PE in Ukraine cannot be realized without accountability both the international court of justice and the international criminal court made pronouncements in line with their mandates and they must be fully respected and implemented we continue to strongly support their judicial activity and call for respect of their independence lastly as our leaders are preparing to come to United Nations next month for the summit of the future we need to recommit not only in words and in spirit and not as a slogan but through meaningful action to the lofty objectives and principles of the UN Charter this aggression continues to be as unjustify today as it was 30 months ago and this will not change with the passing of time principles are non-negotiable they only the only variables are our actions and our behavior and there is a strong need to reverse the current Trend and restore the full respect for the UN Charter thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Romania for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Denmark thank you Mr President I have the honor to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries Finland Iceland Norway Sweden and my own country Denmark with thank assistant Secretary General Genta for his for this briefing on 24 August we marked the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's Independence a day dedicated to celebrate Ukraine's own unique history culture and identity but also the right to freely choose its own future and aspirations the Nordic countries remain UN voring in our support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignity and territorial Integrity within its internationally recognized borders just for 48 hours after the Ukrainian Independence Day Russia launched a major missile attack on the regions of Kiev Odessa Vena kuk Neo and many other regions targeting civilians and critical infrastructure this once again shows Russia's blatant disregard for international law we strongly condemn such henious attacks these massive air strikes are among the worst since the onset of Russia's illegal unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression president Russia's goal remains to subjugate Ukraine in the areas it has temporarily occupied Russia has brought death Terror and and destruction no one wants peace more than Ukraine whose people continue to suffer the consequences of Russia's aggression but it cannot be peace at any cost at the peace Summit in June in Switzerland more than 100 countries and international organizations from across the globe came together to reaffirm the support for a peaceful resolution based on international law including the UN Charter the summit reconfirmed widespread International support for the peace process and conveyed strong political will to solve concrete challenges on food and nuclear security persons deprived of their Liberty and deported persons The summit's Joint commun Echo a common message conveyed in the countless statements made in the council and the Seven resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly simply we all have a shared responsibility to work towards promoting a comprehensive just and Lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter Charter and in line with Ukraine's peace formula president last month the UN General assemble assembly adopted the resolution on Safety and Security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine including the sapara nuclear power plant the Nordic countries welcome the continued engagement by the UN community in working towards peace in Ukraine as demonstrated by the adoption of a resolution on this important matter despite this Russia's systematic and detrimental attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure continue on AED Russia has again chosen to weaponize supplies of energy and critical energy deliveries the Nordic countries are firmly engaged in Ukraine's peace formula point3 on energy security and we are committed to support Ukraine in the rebuilding of its energy infrastructure we reiterate that attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects are strictly prohibited under International humanitarian law and must stop immediately with 14.6 million people already in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine we are confronted with a harsh reality unless Russia immediately hals its attack and the energy INF infrastructure is rebuilt quickly there will be grave consequences for the civilian population during the fast approaching winter in closing the nordics once again reaffirm our unwavering support to the founding principles of the UN including the inviolability of sovereignity and territorial Integrity of all states we call on Russia to seize all hostilities and withdraw troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes thank you Mr president I thank the representative of Denmark for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Poland thank you Mr President Mr President uh allow me to start by congratulating Ukraine on the occasion of this Independence days day uh which was celebrated just a few days ago uh to quote the president of Republic of Poland Andre Duda who visited Kiev on the very day we are here today to show the that neighbors stand with Ukraine that Ukraine is not alone and that we are not afraid end of quote uh the war waged by Russia should remind us all that Independence which many of our societies take for granted in fact is not given for free and sometimes it must be defended at a very high cost Mr President it is regrettable that despite the significant number of councils meeting during the last two two and a half years there is no breakthrough in the discussion due to the Russia's continued illegal and barbaric war against Ukraine the harsh reality is that Moscow is not planning to stop it anytime soon the recent massive attacks from the air involving hundreds of missiles and drones which struck various locations throughout Ukraine give a clear picture of the aggressors aggressors intentions in this context let me for let me inform you U distinguished members of Security Council of repeated violations of Polish airspace and thus the NATO airspace by Russian air assault which Poland strongly condemns recently we have seen a significant intensification of such actions they destabilize the European security environment and pose a threat to infrastructure civilian population as well as air traffic we urge Russia to stop its attacks against critical infrastructure and appeal to all states to redouble efforts to ensure energy security of Ukraine including nuclear energy infrastructure this could include for example providing air defense around the critical infrastructure spare parts and Power generators as well as increasing energy exports Poland once again condemns in the strongest possible terms continued heinous attacks against Ukraine Moscow shows that total disregard for humanitarian law which results in thousands of Civilian casualties and injuries Mr President on a general note Russia's aggression against Ukraine stands in stark contrast with our efforts to build a stable and peaceful world based on respect for Universal principles and international law with the UN Charter at core it is crucial that the International Community has no doubts Moscow aims at replacing this Noble concept with an alternative where sheer military power is the basic principle in relation between the states such an approach to international relations Is Not and should never be accepted uh we are also want to highlight broader implication of the Moscow actions contributing to economic instability and threatening security not only of Europe but also over other regions of the world Mr president Ukraine has a very and every right to Def defend itself and protect its Citizen and sovereignity taking all necessary measures in compliance with international law it is our common duty to support the victim of the aggression in defending its basic basic rights stemming from the UN Charter given the current circumstances and temptation to turn to the policy of appeasement should be decisively rejected freezing the conflict will not bring the lasting peace in Ukraine as Russia will use the post to regroup for another attack illegal actions which are being continued must be contempt not not rewarded there is only one way to end this conflict Russia must withdraw its forces from Ukraine and stop the aggression and I thank you for your attention I thank the representative of Poland for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of ltia thank you Mr President I have the honor to address the Council on behalf of three Baltic states Estonia Lithuania and my own country latva we align ourselves with a state M of the European Union we thank assistant Secretary General Mir yena for the briefing yet again Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities and people on Monday 26 August Russia launched 127 missiles and 109 shahad combat drones attacks that took place right after Ukraine's Independence Day this past weekend have kept most of the country under strain for 8 hours this is assessed to be the largest Russia's Air Attack since beginning of the fullscale invasion in 2022 targeting Ukrainian capital city of Kiev cities of Lviv Odessa har zapara and others again and again Russia has deliberately targeted civilian and critical infrastructure residential buildings hospitals gas facilities electric power plants including unsuccessful attempt to destroy the dam of the Kev hydroelectric power station this energy infrastructure is crucial for supply of basic services to people in their homes schools and hospitals on August 14th two humanitarian workers died in a Haron hospital after being injured by Russian shelling last week Russian forces attacked a hotel in a city of cremator killing reuter's staff member and injuring four other International journalists including a lavian journalist these are blatant violations of the international law including the UN Charter the Baltic states strongly condemn Russia's criminal actions amid Russia's fullscale illegal and unprovoked War of aggression against Ukraine we call upon aggressor to immediately completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders we also call on bellarus Iran and the dprk to stop their assistance to Russia to conduct its cruel war against Ukraine belarussian armed forces have concentrated significant number of military assets along the border with Ukraine which is an unwarranted escalation the Baltic states joined the call of Ukraine to withdraw belarussian forces from the Ukraine state border we remain ready to further limit Russia's ability to wage war and urge all countries not to provide any material or other support for Russia's war of aggression Mr President Russia and its leaders must be held accountable for the crime of aggression through an international tribunal that enjoys enjoys broad support and legitimacy we fully support and urge the International Community to implement icj binding order to hold a military offensive by Russia against Ukraine and ICC arrest warrants issued to Russia's top political and Military leadership ship the Baltic states support Ukraine's peace initiative and encourage other members of the United Nations to join it we welcome the outcome of the peace Summit held in Switzerland this June and encourage all countries to continue supporting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law in conclusion let me reiterate that the Baltic states strongly support Ukraine's exercise of its inher right for self-defense and Rea reaffirm our full solidarity with Ukraine to restore territorial integrity and sovereignity within its internationally recognized borders and I thank you I thank the representative of laa for their statement there are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers the meeting is a John I understand why but why am I I'm my family is in Russ [Music] [Music] in this meeting it is so decided in accordance with rule 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite his Excellency Mr scos lines head of Delegation of the European Union to United Nations to participate in this meeting it is so decided the security Council will now begin its consideration of item two of the agenda I give the floor to Mr mlav yancha thank you uh Mr President on Saturday 24 August Ukraine marked its 33rd Independence Day the day also marked a somber Milestone of two and a half years of Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law on this occasion we reiterate the United nation's full commitment to the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders over the past 30 months millions of ukrainians have witnessed unimaginable death Devastation and destruction according to the office of the High Commissioner for human rights since 24 February 2022 11,600 62 civilians have been killed 639 of them children 24,27 civilians have been injured 1,577 of them children this July was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine in almost two 2 years at least 219 civilians were killed K and 1,8 injured tragically these figures only grow as missiles shells and drones continue to hit cities towns and Villages across Ukraine daily in the past two days hundreds of missiles and drones reportedly killed at least 11 people and hit energy and other critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine damage was reported in 15 regions with at least 11 energy facilities effective this vast destruction further aggravates the already precarious access to energy and water for millions of people days earlier on 24 August amidst escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine a missile struck a hotel in the town of kator donet region of Ukraine a Reuters staff member was killed and four Jour journalists injured similar attacks on hotels restaurants markets and shopping areas in frontlight communities have been reported we are also concerned about the impact of the spread of fighting on the civilian population on both sides of the Ukraine Russia border including in the sui and harif regions of Ukraine as well as in the ksk belgorod and Brians regions of the Russian Federation following the start of Ukraine's incursion into the ksk region on 6th August local Russian officials reported at least 12 people killed and 121 others injured according to local officials at least 130,000 people have been evacuated from the region o CHR has not received additional reports of Civilian casualties or related harm and is not able to confirm these reports as it has no access to the Russian Federation and the areas impacted by the fighting as the Secretary General repeatedly underlined attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable no matter where they occur these attacks are prohibited by International humanitarian law they must end immediately we urge all sides to act responsibly and ensure the protection of civilians Mr President we are alarmed regarding reported incidents around the nuclear facilities in Ukraine and Russia in August the international atomic energy agency iaea reported deterioration of the nuclear safety situation at Ukraine's zapia nuclear power plant on 17th August a drone strike hit the road around the site perimeter on 11 August significant fire at one of the cooling towers resulted in considerable damage the iaea team has also also reported periodic intense military activity near the plant including sounds of frequent explosions repetitive heavy Machine Gun and Rifle fire and artillery at various distances from the plant concerns are also rising over nuclear Safety and Security in the ksk region of the Russian Federation on 22 August the Russian Federation informed the international atomic energy agency that remains of a drone were found within the territory of the ksk nuclear power plant we welcome yesterday's visit to the ksk nuclear power plant by iaea director General Grossi and his personal efforts to ensure nuclear Safety and Security in Russia and Ukraine we also commend uh iaea's ongoing monitoring of the situation at all of Ukraine's nuclear sites including Europe's largest plant in zapia we continue to call for maximum restraint and vigilance to avoid a nuclear incident the consequences of which could be catastrophic to the region and the world Mr President after a decade of conflict in the east of Ukraine and occupation of the autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of sevastopol and following 2 and a half years of fullscale war the suffering of the people in Ukraine continues unabated women in Ukraine are facing particular risks they make up 56% of the 15 million people in need of humanitarian assistance we are concerned about the reported 40% increase in cases of gender based violence in Frontline areas particularly in the east and south of Ukraine entire Villages and towns have been either partially or completely devastated according to oacr 546 medical facilities and 1,36 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed as we have previously briefed humanitarian operations in some areas lack access to people in need we remain deeply concerned about the 1.5 million people who we are unable to reach in parts of donet hon luhansk and zapia regions of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation like all others living close to the front line in Ukraine they require urgent access to health care and Medicine food and clean drinking water in accordance with International humanitarian law humanitarian law it is imperative that impartial humanitarian relief be facilitated for all civilians in need the hostilities have displaced millions of Ukrainian people who continue to need our support near nearly 3.7 million people have been internally displaced within Ukraine more than 6.6 million Ukrainian refugees have been recorded globally this year together with our partners the United Nations aims to reach 8.5 million people with life saving assistance including through its winter response plan so far far donors have provided 41% of the 3.1 billion US dollar required under the humanitarian needs and response plan we thank them for their generous contributions however the already dire humanitarian situation is expected to versen as hostilities show no signs of abating and the V winter approaches Mr Mr President we welcome the recent exchanges of prisoners of War facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and other actors we encourage the SES to step up these efforts to bring all prisoners of War home however we express serious concern about the treatment of prisoners of War held by the Russian Federation the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has reported that prisoners of War were subdued to prolonged and routine torture dire conditions of uh interment and repeated sexual violence prisoners of war must be treated in accordance with International humanitarian law Mr President we cannot allow the horrific Devastation of this war to become normalized now more than ever it is critical for for us to speak with one voice to ensure protection of civilians and to step up our urgent efforts towards peace next month the world leaders will gather for the summit of the future to forge new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and Safeguard the future we hope that this Summit will help enhance Global collaboration at a time when it is most urgently needed and we hope that these efforts will also bring us closer to laying the foundations for a just lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine in line with the UN Charter international law and resolutions of the general assembly the United Nations remains ready to support any meaningful efforts to this end thank you I thank Mr Yan chair for his briefing I now give the floor to those council members who wish to make statements I give the floor to the representative of Slovenia thank you very much Mr President and thank you very much for organizing uh the meeting today I would also like to thank assistant Secretary General yena for uh the briefing I believe it was useful for the council to hear uh the latest on the most extensive conventional War um the world has seen in decades so Mr president in the last two days we were reminded of the viciousness of this war when Russia launched one of the largest combined strikes we have seen since its beginning almost 300 drones and missiles heat apartment buildings and energy infrastructure across Ukraine including reportedly a hydr power plant in the Kiev region these unnova strikes against civilian and civilian infrastructure are blatantly violating International humanitarian law and need to stop immediately and there is no sign that the intensity of fighting is decreasing to the contrary as assistant Secretary General yena said the UN recorded more than 1,200 civilian casualties in jly alone which makes it the deadliest month for civilians in almost two years this brings me to my first point the sheer extent of human life lost to this war instigated by Russia is intolerable and it compels us to look for peace a just and Lasting peace for Ukraine and its peoples as we pass the two and a half year mark from the start of the war it is high time for a peace process to begin it is obvious that there cannot be peace without the involvement of and dialogue between all parties in this regard we hope that the Russian Federation will demonstrate genuine willingness to end the war and engage in good faith negotiations based on International norms and in full respect of the UN Charter secondly as the war keeps on ranging the stakes are getting higher this is especially obvious with regard to the Safety and Security of nuclear power plants in the region at the saporia nuclear power plant in the span of a single month we have seen fire in one of its cooling towers power outages and a drone strike in the direct vicinity of the plant the situation is perilous and it will turn into devastating if the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear Safety and Security and the five basic principles for the protection of zapia nuclear power plant are not respected this does not hold just for the nuclear power plants on the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine but other nuclear power plants and civilian nuclear facilities affected by armed conflict as well so colleagues Slovenia welcomes and fully supports IAA director General gross's activities in this regard we also believe this Council should address the importance of preventing civilian nuclear facilities becoming a Target or object of armed conflict any attack on civilian nuclear facility or the prevention of its normal operation could result an in an unimaginable long-term humanitarian and environmental disaster and we are ready to engage in order to prevent this Mr President it is devastating to see this war expanding in the territories eting gves and in destruction it causes this however does not absolve the council from its duty to ensure International Peace and security including in Ukraine Slovenia will not cease with its Endeavors to build trust in order to secure the future of Ukraine ukrainians and Russians for that matter with a just and Lasting peace thank you I thank the representative of Slovenia for their statement I give the floor to the representative of United States uh thank you Mr President and thank you assistant Secretary General yanf for your briefing on August 24 1991 Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union two and a half years ago Russia launched an unjustifiable full-scale invasion of Ukraine and today continues what is a decad long assault against Ukraine's Independence Ukraine has an inherent right to defend its independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity against Russia's aggression this right is enshrined in article 51 of the UN Charter Ukraine's people are fighting defying the kremlin's attempt to redraw Ukraine's borders by force they are fighting valiantly and heroically though Russia continues to brutally strike Ukraine's critical infrastructure as it did over the past weekend launching its largest aerial attack since the War Began a volley of hundreds of missiles and drones killing more than a dozen civilians and damaging energy facilities in July Russia hit Ukraine's okad Children's Hospital in Putin's war of choice Russia has forcibly transferred and deported thousands of civilians including children and caused 6.4 million refugees to flee the country and another 3.5 million to be internally displaced there is no justification for these acts today the Kremlin is endangering the zapara nuclear power plant we call on Russia to asede to the demand of a 100 of its fellow UN General Assembly members and return control of the plant to the rightful competent Ukrainian authorities Russia cannot and will not subjugate Ukraine the United States will continue to uphold the foundational principles of the UN Charter and support Ukraine against Russia's aggression as it preserves its independence Ukraine and the United States Made Concrete progress by signing a historic bilateral security agreement in June but we are not alone with the Ukraine compact 32 NATO allies and partners pledged to support Ukraine's immediate security needs and maintain Ukraine's long-term defense and deterrence capability Ukraine's Independence Day serves as a reminder of what is at stake the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial Integrity our commitment to those principles like our commitment to Ukraine will not waver the United States will stand by Ukraine as it seeks a just and Lasting peace consistent with the UN Charter and when the world's leaders come to New York next month to reaffirm their commitment to the UN Charter they are also reaffirming their support for a basic principle Russia cannot redraw Ukraine's borders by force the United States once again calls on Russia to stop its Relentless attacks against Ukraine and to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine's territory we hope that next year ukrainians will be able to celebrate their independence in peace thank you Mr President I thank the representative of the United States for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Japan thank you Mr President we would like to thank the United States and Slovenia for requesting this meeting and Sheron for arranging it I also thank ASG yen for his comprehensive briefing first and foremost We join the global community in congratulating all ukrainians on the 33rd anniversary of their independence on August 24th Ukraine has been fighting desperately for its independence sovereignity and territorial Integrity principles enshrined in the UN Charter that no one can undermine we are concerned about the use of seemingly neutral phrase of so-called war in Ukraine to divert attention from the true nature of the situation let me make it clear this unprovoked war against aggression uh this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has been brought by Russia this fact remains unchanged as clearly recognized by the overwhelming majority of the general assembly we express our deep respect for and strong solidarity with the Ukrainian people who have been defending their country for more than two and a half years our support has been unwavering from the outset Mr President in addition to violating the UN Charter Russia continues to disregard the Geneva conventions I would like to take a moment to ref reflect on what Russia's aggression has caused in Ukraine as we have heard from the briefer today there have been countless civilian casualities families have been torn apart by forc deportations of ukrainians including children countless critical civilian infrastructures such as power plants and dumps have been destroyed the continued occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power plants poses a risk of nuclear disaster the overall damage has been too extensive to enumerate fully despite being a permanent member of the security Council Russia continues to violate the related Security Council resolutions it has agreed to including importing missiles from North Korea for use in Ukraine Mr President the International Community must keep United on fundamental principles we reaffirmed our commitment to the international order based on the rule of law we strengthened our solidarity based on common values including respect for sovereignity and territorial Integrity as well as human rights and dignity to prevent any further attempts to change the status quo by force anywhere in the world we emphasize one once again that Ukraine must Prevail and peace in Ukraine must be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter we continue to demand Russia's immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine we reiterate our unshakable position to adhering to the UN Charter and urge Russia to do the same I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Japan for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Republic of Korea uh thank you Mr President I extend my gratitude to ASG yancha for his briefing I also welcome the participation of Ukraine Ukraine permanent representative at today's meeting on August 24th it was Ukraine's Independence Day which should have been a day of celebration of national sovereignty and unity but sadly ukrainians are still suffering from the ongoing conflict that has lasted already for 2 and a half years for the past few weeks we have witnessed a significant escalation along the battle fronts Ukraine's military operation within Russian territories was followed by Russia's intensified hostilities which caused the rise in civilian casualties the mandatory evacuation of affected areas and renewed the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure Russia's attacks including the vile large scale one on Monday involving hundreds of missile and drone strikes continue to threaten all ukrainians and plunge them into darkness just as they are approaching the third winter since the War Began at this point my delegation highlights the following points first we are deeply concerned about ongoing dangerous situation of zapia nuclear power plant following the increased military activities in its vicinity as a country operating 26 nuclear reactors on its soil and having host the second nuclear security Summit in 2012 the Republic of Korea joins call for a halt to any and all escalator actions that risk a nuclear catastrophe all parties must Faithfully cooperate with iaea to prevent such an instant we appreciate the iaea's efforts to ensure the nuclear Safety and Security in the region since the War Began we are also closely monitoring the results of the iaea director General's visit to the crus nuclear power plant in Russia second as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Geneva conventions we deplore that these Landmark Global commitments for protecting victims of war continue to be blatantly ignor in Ukraine indiscriminate attack against civilians and civilian objects including energy infrastructure is in violation of international humanitarian law and must be condemned unequivocally the mistreatment of prisoners of war and detainees must also stop and ultimately those committed war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine should be held accountable third we support International community's diplomatic efforts to end this war in line with international law and the UN Charter affirming Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial Integrity even amid the intense fighting on the ground we cannot lose hope for diplomacy at the same time as everybody in this chamber knows there is a simple and shorter path that is Russia's withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine's territories Mr President we note with great concern the Ukrainian authorities announcement that North Korea's ballistic missiles were used Again by Russia to strike Ukraine on July 31st and August 11th Russia cannot cover up its illegal procurement of North Korea's weapons and use of them against Ukraine which violate multiple security C resolutions we once again strongly urge Russia to fulfill its solemn responsibility as a permanent member of the security Council by haling its illegal military transactions with dprk we also condemn the dprk for being complicit in Russia's illegal Invasion prolonging the war in Ukraine and threatening International Peace and Security in wider regions including Europe and East Asia in closing Mr President the Republic of Korea will support to Ukraine until they achieve trust and Lasting peace in their territories based on our bilateral Ukraine peace and solidarity initiative I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Republic of Korea for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of RI Federation thank you Mr President colleagues accredited reporters started why MERS of are ask for a meeting on Ukraine this month is it they asked us that the United States allies decided to give up on their practice of artificially maintaining the Ukrainian issue regardless of the real needs for discussion by the Council of course we could not answer and provid an answer in place of our Western colleagues even though we do have a version of two people looked very unable during the adventure and that is what ukrainians themselves called The Reckless attack by the W col simply could not hundreds evidence showing that in the Ukrainian nationalists are executing peaceful citizens including women and children that they strike against Civ cars they launch drones and ambulances strikes against reporters and volunteers trying to save people from Ukrainian executioners that they loot Russian Villages and then they post all of that on the internet including resal building hospitals peaceful citizens and while they're doing that they demonstr some evidence for that is already something that we have sh during the meeting for the security Council 1 of AUST and since then their number has only grown and this is happening at a territory which has no military facilities where which is mostly populated by peaceful women children and the elderly been evidence the is in intentionally shelling the course plant and is planning to take over it during a milor this kind of Reckless could trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences for the entire of Europe and this is the best answer to those who is trying not to notice the KF regime attack against Zaria NP this is what your unprincipled ostrich like leads to is uncomfortable even to London and Brussels already in 2014 they have given a card blanch to the the Western sponsors of the also fact that the true colors of regime was shown during the attack when the cess didn't clearly this is not the best background possible to request a security council meeting and that's why Western colleagues waited until the very end of the of the month and requested a meeting under the wire hoping that the thinking of the leader of the will become clear by now and there will be at least some positive outcomes by now of its adventurous and Reckless decision the rationale of and the reason for this suicidal adventure of the Ukrainian president has not become clear in any new way and the outcomes are even worse essentially Ukraine has suffered greatly in terms of service and material but for some reason holds on to a few Villages inist and using for that very few re Reserves the on taken from the East where because of that the Ukrainian front is collapsing the Russian gr every day we're liberating newer and newer Rec days we includes Village which under the maidan authorities was being called New York for three years our un have already such important strategic points as which is going to become and and we are nearing the most important Transportation logistic Hub in pakros which is going to then become cross a GRE two compared to July and became 11.2 sare km and recently it has reached the level of 30 square kilm it's important at the same time to remember that the of reserves used in well now the Rian strongholds the Ukrainian forces used to R since 2014 and this is only the beginning Ukraine will have to pay for the cor adventure for the meeting today by the Western um co-conspirators ofe was with a heavy heart the US and satellites at the same time need to bear in mind the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces in fighting using Western weapons they use and lose German American tanks and shell Western alter artillery and there in K you also have Western mercenaries in consult and this means the Western participation in the crimes of the K regime has become even more obvious this is something we're going to discuss on the 30th of August at the meeting on Western weapon supplies to therefore expecting that the United States and NATO allies are going to be objective or even Humane in assenting what is being done by the Ukrainian murders and terrorists would be naive but for such a reasons our Western colleagues do have the about the right of KF to self defense protection from Russian aggression and we have heard these Expressions today in this room they sounded false and we'll continue hearing them represent of the United States this morning stated uh in quote one member of Security Council when encoun encountering a terrorist organization on his border will not tolerate daily attacks and will not tolerate tolerate displacement of tens of thousands of its citizens area but such a position the United States have reserved for Israel exclusively when it comes to um crimes against Russia and Russians Washington has not been paying attention for that for a long time Mr President undertaken by the Ukrainian president has one more consequence we will recall that in June President of Russia AAL on Ukraine it refle realistic situation the front and takes into account the ukan after that the r of the ukrainians become more peacing and many of our colleagues from the global rush to the conclusion that we reaching the state of peaceful negotiations those of you who thought that way did not into account that the C regime canot enter into any kind of an agreement this was shown in the case of the Minsk agreements and also the peace agreement which was um initialized in Istanbul and this this time as well the K regime deceived every everyone who talked about together with them instead they decided for escalation they attacked the cras and all of the question were removed this way and I do hope that no one is left with any kind of an illusion therefore we never and that's why we implementing the targets of a special military operation peace on Ukraine which is something that the zy regime is not interested in colleages I would to call upon those walking their allies are trying to bring into their political games by bribing Elites and please take a look at the example of Ukraine and you will see what this kind of ukra was theth great milary potential now became one of the poorest states of the former USSR it econom is destroyed its industry is destroyed it land has been sought to Western Corporation it became a platform for American B Laboratories and now is a platform for the testing of Western weapon and introducing Western Star democracy has led to the total op freed of speech or even Freedom religion recently political pres to the dictatorship of president president not only did not Implement any of promises of made before the election war with Russia wal interest and result in addition to that of his own country and is throwing into the meat grer hundreds of thousands of the of it Nationals just to keep on to power this is a true um sad outcome that Ukraine has achieved by 33rd anniversary of its independence that is the cost of the mistakes and blunders made by the Ukrainian leadership so is to please the West probably understanding that this year the west countries inis the previous years decided to even go foro any kind of action in support of Ukraine instead of that they decided to spend time in The Well of Geneva discussing the which are which were being at the same time violated in KK I would to say that we believe the bloody Ukrainian tragedy provoked by the United States and NATO and that this will serve as a lesson for anyone who could penally end up in a similar situation I thank you I thank the representative of Russian Federation for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Guyana thank you Mr President I thank ASG yena for the update provided and welcome the participation of the representatives of Ukraine the European Union Romania Denmark Poland and ltia in today's meeting Mr President while today's meeting was con to discuss the political and security situation in Ukraine we will be remissed to not speak at the outset about the ongoing violations of international law violations that continue to bring death and destruction to civilians on both sides as the war spreads farther away from the front lines with each passing day each month we continue to receive alarming reports of Civilian casualties mostly occurring in Ukraine since February 2022 over 34,000 civilians men women and children have borne the brunt of thousands of attacks July Mr yena reminded has been the deadliest for Ukraine we deplore the continued attacks against civilians and civilian objects despite numerous calls by this Council and the general assembly for full adherence to International humanitarian Ian law including the principles of Distinction proportionality and precaution we demand an immediate end to all attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects and indeed call upon the parties to the conflict to desist from launching such indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks we also stress the need for accountability for all such violations Ghana further demands that the conflict parties take constant care to protect civilians and civilian objects from harm and all necessary measures to minimize the risk of Civilian injury death and damage to civilian property the status quo cannot allow to continue every UN member state has an obligation to abide by the UN Charter and a wider body of international law Mr President with each life lost each family torn apart and each home bombed anger and hatred spread and the prospect for peace diminishes Guyana therefore stresses the urgency of resolving this conflict through peaceful means prolonging it will only exacerbate the risks and consequences for all concerned and further threaten International Peace and security as I have stated previously innocent lives cannot continue to be sacrificed at the altar of political brinkmanship we must choose peace we therefore reiterate our call to the parties to commit to a serious political and diplomatic process toward ending the conflict we urge them to engage in good faith to bring an end to the suffering of the millions of men women and children who have already paid too high a price Mr President as we have just heard from ASG yena the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is dire it will only get worse as the winter season approaches Guyana urges the International Community to give increased attention to the plight of the 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine and to scale up support for the humanitarian needs and response plan we call for continued international support for the victims of this war including medical psychological and legal support with particular attention to children and survivors of sexual violence we further stress the need for access to be granted to the people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in the occupied territories we call upon the Russian Federation to Grant humanitarian access to all populations in need in these territories Guyana also calls for the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine in closing Mr president Guyana will continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful and sustainable end to this War I thank you I thank the representative of Guyana for their statement I give the floor to the representative of China president I thank ASG yena for his briefing since the Ukraine crisis fully escalated in February 2022 2 years and a half have passed these 2 years and a half have witnessed protracted fighting on the ground deteriorating humanitarian crisis and ever unfolding spillover effects this is tragic and worrisome since the beginning of this month the war has taken a new turn with both parties to the conflict thrown into a new round of fierce fighting leading to severe casualties and infrastructure damages the endless production of the world will bring nothing but more harm more damages and finally a loose loose outcome making already turbulent world even more unpredictable of the increasingly C and complex situation China has repeated repeatedly stressed on many that the current priority is to follow the principles of no spill over of the battlefield no escalation of the fighting and no fueling of Flames by any party with the view to achieving deescalation as soon as possible we welcome the new round of prisoners exchange between Russia and Ukraine under the good offices of UA we once again call on both parties to stay calm exercise restraint abide by IH in real Earnest and refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure all nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes we call on all parties to the conflict to demonstrate political will move towards each other seize the fighting and launch these talks at an early date we call on the International Community uphold an objective and impartial position and to this end create favorable conditions and provide concrete support president despite the twists and turns on the path towards peace China has been committed to working for peace and promoting as long as it is conducive to alleviating the situation and facilitating negotiations China is there making its efforts recently the Chinese government's special representative for Europe and Asia visited Brazil South Africa and Indonesia for the fourth round of shatow diplomacy on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis during the exchanges all parties highly commended the Sixpoint consensus proposed by China and Brazil on the question of they all expressed worries about the escalation of the conflict and unanimously called for early launch of peace talks China is ready to continue its close communication with the global South and other relevant countries and make unlimiting efforts towards a political settlement in conclusion I wish to reiterate that on the question of Ukraine China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial Integrity of all countries should be respected that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed that the reasonable security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously and that all efforts conducive to the princial settlement of crisis should be supported based on the above mentioned four principles the four shs mentioned above China will continue to work for a political settlement thank you president I thank the representative of China for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Ecuador Secretary General we find ourselves at a critical moment with recent events that have further tensions and insecurity only lives humanarian incling children urgently need assistance violence and create suffering of civilians in Broad should guide any response in the context of of international human La should be presed and this is true War are norms we must nuclear an issue which deserves our greatest attention of nuclear facility in Ukraine and in Russia is absolutely unaccept further Echo call of theor security conf as well as thees set to protect the nuclear power to any respected to prevent humanarian and environmental disaster impossible to imagine isation violence growing risk of an escalation stabilize not just the region World security my country reates as it is done systematically as members of this organiz are compelled to respect principles that were universally accepted under international law because to the contrary we doing is enshrining the Latin expression intera silent the law by use hence the importance ofing without any ambiguity Parra all of the org from resting to the threat of the force or the independence of any one pillars of the interational order which we have all agreed to and toot EXC colleagues isera to work deescalation to work toward containing the confli and hostilities not allow War to normalized it is of commun options for based dialog and diplomacy compliance andoral integrity and S of Ukraine reced borders to conclude the major responsibility of this counil to maintain International Peace and security thus we urge the members of this Council to act determination and fully adhere to the principles of the charter to put an end to this devastating conflict a goal which for which you can count on Equador support to achieve it thank you I thank the representative of Ecuador for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Switzerland assistant secretary yena for his intervention just as my colleagues did before me ear this week UK in parts of country once again W up to this sound of warning sirens and explosions Russia's massive attacks on cities and power grids in recent days have again claimed victims and caused extensive damage condemns the continued strikes on Ukraine energy infrastructure these developments remind us that 2 and a half years after the start of the military aggression human losses the destruction of houses and the collapse of all kinds of certainties continue unated from the very beginning Switzerland has unequivocally condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine it is a violation of the fundamental rules and principles enshrined in the United Nations chter a few days after aniversary of its independence I reaffirm Switzerland's Firm support for Ukraine sovereignty and territorial Integrity within internationally recognized borders after 30 long mons and as we watch with concern of the particularly intense hosti and tensions in eastern Ukraine and in the Border areas three areas of action require our immediate attention first for international humanitarian law must be an absolute and non-negotiable imperative we have just commemorated the 75th anniversary of Geneva conventions together we recall the universal um commitments undertaken in particular the protection of the civilian population and their property needs to be ured according to Ohr figures and as assistant secretary y pointed out last month was the deadliest civilians in Ukraine since October 2022 on average every day a school hospital or a medical facility is damaged or destroyed in Ukraine Switzerland urges all parties to the conflict to comply strictly with their obligations including those arising from the principles of Distinction proportionality and precaution in the conduct of hostilities every violation of international humanitarian law is unacceptable efforts to achieve accountability must continue investigations violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and the prosecution of international crimes are essential to restore Injustice Switzerland supports accountability efforts at both National and international level in particular the work of the international criminal court in this regard we welcome Ukraine's decision to ratify the Rome statute to the statute is crucial for the IC to deliver Justice to victims and deter future atrocities we also stress the need for holistic support for victims in their families initiatives such as a register of damage as well as special attention to psychological needs are essential thir Point essential to advance peace in accordance with the UN Charter all those and constructiv towards a peace process of process which is AED at adj and Lasting peace based on fundamental principles of international law Switzerland remains committed to supporting these efforts and under and undermines its conviction that peace is Achi we reate the appe made at the suit on peace in Ukraine to the parties concerned to guarantee inter Al nuclear Safety and Security it is crucial to engage in an exchange of views that will lead to conrete measures in this area International humanitarian law as well as the five principles established by the IAA in this Council must be upheld Mr President please allow me to conclude with the words of a Ukrainian couple they said they said we had everything but now we're just happy to be alive I would like to express ssle and solidarity with the Ukrainian people who have suffered the ravages of this war for far too long for the sake of International Peace and security must end renew our urgent appeal to Russia to Sease all hostilities and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory I thank you I thank the representative of Switzerland for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Algeria thank you Mr President I thank assistant Secretary General Miroslav Ginga for his briefing at the outside I would like to express algeria's deep concern over the continued deterioration of the humanarian situation induced by the military operation both in Ukraine and Russia the situation continues to be driven by the logic of escalation aiming to strengthen military position on the ground in the meantime civilians continue to be affected by this conflict with the increasing loss of Civilian lives and suffering as well as the worsening humanitarian situation more concern is the absence of any foreseen peaceful political solution or Prospect of this escalation confrontation and polarization remain unfortunately the main drivers of this conflict against this backdrop Algeria would like to make three critical points first it's urgent to reverse the trend and to dis escalate tensions by ceasing hostility and abiding by international law and international humanitarian law attacks against civilian and the destruction of Civilian infrastructure are INE equivocally prohibited by international law second the continued polarization of this crisis remains a source of concern for Algeria it contributes to poing the the crisis by nurturing escalation between the parties with adverse repercussions on International peace and security third this escalation should go hand in hand with intensifying diplomatic efforts to get the parties around the table for an inclusive and constructive dialogue and negotiations only this way could guarantee a peaceful settlement of this conflict where the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are upheld and the legitimate security councils of both parties are met Mr President President we believe that whatever the reason and motivations leading to a conflict the party and the international Comm Community should never take it as irreversible as soon as dialogue is genuinely engaged peace May emerge for the darkness of the most intricate confrontation I thank you I thank the representative of Algeria for their statement I give the floor to the representative of of United Kingdom thank you president and I thank ASG incha for his briefing colleagues as we discuss the situation in Ukraine today we are once again compelled to highlight the continued barbarity of President Putin's tactics against the Ukrainian people last weekend Ukraine marked its third independence day since Russia Russia's illegal Invasion instead of celebrating ukrainians were fighting for their country their land and their families they are also fighting on behalf of all our countries in defense of the principles on which this institution the United Nations was founded that every member state has the right to sovereignty and territorial integrity and borders cannot be redrawn by force let us be clear under article 51 Ukraine has a right of self-defense the UK and other allies fully support Ukraine in exercising that right President Putin thought keev would fall within days he was wrong and Ukrainian courage continues to prove him wrong every day Russia is getting increasingly desperate as we heard again today and as it does the attacks become more cowardly on Monday Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine striking numerous civilian areas further attacks took place on Monday night and Tuesday morning at least seven people were killed and many more injured we were deeply saddened to learn that a British national Ryan Evans was also killed in recent attacks over 35,000 civilians in Ukraine have been confirmed Med killed or injured since Russia's Invasion began these most recent attacks represented represent continued evidence that Russia is intentionally targeting civilian energy infrastructure risking further humanitarian crisis this coming winter to be clear intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects constitute a war crime at the same time the consequence of Putin's calculation for the Russian people is increasingly evident this week's attack alone cost Russia almost $1 13 billion it is estimated that more than 1,000 Russian troops were either killed or wounded on Monday alone so once again we call on Russia to end its illegal Invasion and immediately withdraw its forces the UK along with our International Partners will not falter in our support for Ukraine we will stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes to secure a just and sustainable peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law I thank you I thank the representative of United Kingdom for their statement I give the floor to the representative of France president to thank mren for his briefing the Ukrainian people International Community on the 24th of August celebrated it 3 anniversary of indpendence Independence which Ukraine has been courageously defending for over 900 days now against the Russian aggression the 24th of February 2022 Russia motivated byal determination began its war of Oppression at a large scale against Ukraine which is a sovereign country that didn't threaten it at all since then Ukrainian men and women have courageously been exercising the legitimate right to defend their sovereignty and territorial through this strle they fight to defend the principles of the United Nations Char two years after the celebration in the Ukrainian capital of the anniversary Russia attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine with drones and missiles it was the most largest one beginning conflict and continues his cynical strategy with a new attack on the 26th and 27th of a after 30 months of War Russia continues to deliberately Target civilians and civilian infr to tr undermine the morale of the Ukrainian we reiterate this Russia must respect international humanarian law and stop it coward strategy of bring about unsuffer unspeakable suffering for cili France of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian once again this year the Secretary General put Russia on the infl list for its report on children in our conflict Russia continues to be guilty of murder mutilation and transfer of children illegal Mr President France along side its Partners has mobilized since the very first days of the Russian aggression so that the authors of the Crim committed against Ukraine can be identified and prosecuted and their crimes doc France will continue to support the work of the IC and Ukrainian Court jurisdic it comms authorization granted by the Ukrainian Parliament for Ukraine to ratify the Rome statute which will facilitate investigations we are now a few weeks away from the sum of the future where the world leaders will gather around the Secretary General to discuss our common future and at this time Russia should stop continuing to destabilize the world which is already grappling with forward Russ to withraw troops from ukan territory with its internationally recognized borders and put an end to its aggression thank you I thank the representative of France for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Malta thank you president and I also thank Jen for their briefing more than two years in Russia's war on aggression against Ukraine continues to demonstrate disregard for Global Peace and security international law and multilateralism as we speak hostilities in the northeast of Ukraine continue unabated recent attacks in dones Kar keron and sui regions are impacting civilians causing damage suffering and destruction to Ukraine and her people who continue to suffer the brunt of War on a daily basis specifically the security situation in the dones and sui regions has significantly worsened in recent weeks with intense shelling by Russian forces against various cities this escalation has led to the loss of 16 civilian lives 22 others have been injured furthermore local authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation for families with children in pffr and Russian as Russian troops approach this underscores the severity of the threats faced by those living in the Frontline communities no place in Ukraine is safe on 20th August an attack targeted a children's Cafe in the zapara region resulted in the loss of a 14-year-old boy and severe injuries to six other children this attack further increases the mounting toall on civilian casualties including children due to Russia's use of banned weapons such as cluster Munitions and explosive weapons in populated areas as we have heard today by our briefer July was deadliest month since the start of Russia's war of aggression Malta calls upon all parties to respect International humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the humanitarian workers risking their lives to provide critical assistance in these challenging circumstances president Malta is deeply concerned about the increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine by Russian forces including the recent strike on 22nd August against a Transit Center for newly displaced people in pokrovsk this resulted in serious damage and the eventual deactivation of the site due to security concerns we stress once again civilians are not a Target children are not a Target civilian infrastructure is not a Target humanitarian facilities are not a Target they are all protected under International humanitarian law we welcome the recent exchanges of prisoners of War facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and other actors we encourage the sites to step up these efforts to bring all prisoners of War home we remain firm in our belief that those responsible for perpetrating serious crimes under international law must be held accountable perpetrators cannot and must not go unpunished to this end we reiterate our full support to the Mandate of the international criminal court the independent International Commission of inquiry on Ukraine as well as to the register of damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine to conclude president Malta will continue to call for the full respect of the UN Charter in response to Russia's war of aggression we also reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity within its internationally recognized borders I thank you I thank the representative of Malta for their statement I give the floor to the representative of mosambik Mr President I I thank assistant Secretary General Miroslav yena for his insights I also welcome the participation of the permanent representative of Ukraine in this meeting Mr President is it is more than two years that our repeated calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and deescalation have remained disregarded this total disregard for peace is deeply troubling civilians continue to Bear the brand of the war as the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and the rules of War including the tenets of un chter are consistently and flagrantly violated on a daily basis this is unable given the gravity of the situation we wish to emphasize the following critical points first the military approach has proven unrealistic and untenable as a means to resolve this conflict it is its escalatory nature now threatens The Wider region potentially leading to devastating consequences for Europe and the world at at a large second the strongly we strongly urge the Waring parties to recommit without delay to confidencebuilding measures it is imperative that the underlying grievances that have led to this calamitous state of affairs be addressed decisively through through dialogue and honest negotiations third we call the contestant parties to seize hostilities without delay and resume direct negotiations without preconditions we insist that there is simply no other way left other than to engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue in good faith lastly we call for the scrupulous respect of humanitarian safeguards and for the parties to ensure the safe passage of civilians and unhindered delivery of essential supplies to all affected areas to conclude Mr President mosambik reiterates its firm conviction for political and negotiated solution as the only viable way to end this conflict and lay the foundation for lasting and sustainable peace between the two neighboring countries where there is a will there is a way I thank you Mr pres I thank the representative of mosm Beek for their statement I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of seron colleagues I thank Slovenia and United States for requesting this meeting and I thank ASG Miroslav young for his helpful briefing I welcome the participation of the representative of Ukraine in this meeting s is deeply concerned about the security and humanitarian situation in Ukraine which continues to detate and escalate the conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing for 2 and a half years with no seem end Insight but with increasingly High numbers of casualities and destruction of Civilian infrastructure in recent months the conflict has escalated drastically and the battlefield has expanded as Russia has reportedly intensify its offensive further to the Northeast and Ukraine reportedly continues to expand the bill in the C region of the Russian Federation this escalation and purported gains on both sides reaffirm the fact that a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine is clearly not feasible and underscores the dialogue and negotiations represent the only viable means to resolve the conflict s is deeply concerned about the seeming strategic approach to Annex territories and we therefore reiterate the UN secret General's previous statement that and I quote any annexation of a state territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law end of quote we also Rec call Security Council resolution 2202 reaffirming its full respect for the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of Ukraine in a similar manner we affirm the full respect for the sovy independence and territorial Integrity of the Russian Federation in view of the above we urge all parties to create conditions conducive to holding direct talks at the earliest possible time frame and to actively work towards the escalation until ceasefire can be achieved as we navigate the various complexities of the conflict including in the political context it is important that we also continue to highlight the security situation which continues to detate with devastating impact on the civilian population in the past week civilian casualties and injuries have reportedly risen in both Ukraine and Russia control areas in addition to the July deest numbers between 22nd and 25th August the human rights monitor mission to Ukraine verified that six civilians were killed and 32 injured indon ablast as well as 14 civilians casuality in somar oblast as reported The Continuous attacks have also damaged numerous civilian facilities across Ukraine and Russia attacks have reportedly continued to Target Ukraine electricity and gas facilities as well as sites it claimed to be storing Western weapons for instance the recent reported attacks across 15 regions in Ukraine caused serious damage to infrastructure leaving 250,000 families and business en entities in some skar upblast without electricity disrupted water supplies and damaged Railway infrastructure one of the last remaining power stations a hydro Electric Plant north of Kiev was one of the latest targets and it damage reportedly still being assessed as Ukraine approaches thir winter since the start of the conflict in February 2022 this attack on energy infrastructure continue to inflict severe suffering on millions of people cerated attacks against civilian and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law we call on all sides to ensure compliance with applicable international law including International humanitarian law colleagues we know that to address the winter specific needs the humanitarian community launched a 2024 2025 winter response plan appealing for 42.1 million United States dollars to support 1.8 million people with critical winter related humanitarian assistance as outlined in the 2024 humanitarian needs and response plan the plan intends to supply timely preparedness and response salum calls upon the International Community to support this plan with fiscal assistance to address the pressing needs of the people enhance living conditions and ensure access to inal Services let me close by reiterating that based on the SOS nature of the UN Charter and its principles including on the respect for the sovereignty and territorial Integrity of member State we call for the full respect of the national sovereignty and territorial Integrity of Ukraine as well as a Russian Federation within the internationally recognized borders so want more call for good faith diplomatic effort in pursuit of a peaceful resolution involving the parties to the conflict we therefore welcome the exchange of prisoners of War facilitated by United Arab Emirates meaningful steps must be taken towards the immediate cation of hostilities we urge parties to the conflict to engage constructively including on their legitimate concerns to find the political and diplomatic solution as envisage in article 33 of the UN Charter I thank you I resume my function as president of the council the representative of the United States has asked for the floor to make a further statement I give them the floor uh thank you Mr President I I will be brief um the representative of the Russian Federation who uh once again left the room immediately after delivering a package of Miss and disinformation lies and propaganda bragged about liberating uh Ukraine uh parts of Ukraine and uh in essence taking possession of of these parts of Ukraine well Ukraine is not Russian territory to liberate and take possession of Ukraine is a sovereign independent state and will remain so uh the US and uh its allies will continue to help Ukraine uh in itself defense uh Russia's efforts to redraw Ukraine's um borders as many un memb states have said are a clear-cut violation of the UN Charter while Russia and let's not forget a permanent member of the security Council continues to drive a stake through the heart of said Charter the Us and other like-minded member states will continue to uphold the charter and oppose moscow's brutal war of aggression thank you Mr President I thank the representative of the United States for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Ukraine well thank you Mr President uh distinguished members of the security Council assistant Secretary General yener I also recognize the continued occupation of the seat of the Soviet Union by a lonely sad Junior Jor staff member of the Russian Mission the beginning of the week was again marked by Russia's intense and massive missile and drone strikes against Ukraine primarily our critical energy infrastructure industrial facilities and residential buildings on Monday August 26 Russia launched at least 109 drones and 127 missiles of various types Cruise ballistic and air ballistic on 15 Ukrainian regions and on the capital city Kiev the Defense Forces of Ukraine were able to intercept 102 missiles and 99 drones yesterday on August 27 Russia launched 81 drones and 10 missiles on 16 regions of Ukraine 60 drones and five missiles were shot down we reiterate our gratitude to all allies that contribute to enhancing Ukraine's air defense and thus saving the lives of people at the same time the missiles and drones that were not intercepted caused severe damag and increased the number of casualties one of the victims was killed in their apartment in the city of of flutz following a drone attack footage clearly shows that before the strike the Drone sustained no external interference it was not jammed or intercepted it first reached an altitude of 100 to 150 M locked onto the Target and began on its precise Tory towards it among the Russian targets heat on Monday was the key of hydroelectric power plant and its Dam by attacking this facility Russians continue to dream of repeating what they managed to do in kovka in June 2023 that is to destroy the dam and to flood the territories Downstream along the nipro river in this case the capital of Ukraine and its outskirts the most densely populated areas of Ukraine Mr President for over 2 years Ukraine has been withstanding the largest aerial Terror in human history since the beginning of the fullscale invasion Russia has launched over 9,600 missiles nearly 14,000 attack drones and more than 33,000 guided aerial bombes just imagine this number of deadly weapons dropped on on our homes School schools hospitals power stations the costs of these attacks are difficult to calculate on August 26 alone Russia spent about 1.3 us 1.3 billion US do shelling Ukraine this money might have been spent on improving the life of ordinary Russians according to the United Nations a quarter of them have never had access to centralized sewage systems however we are speaking about Russia and its criminal regime the regime that has plunged its country into a profound crisis the elements of the Russian crisis include a complete disregard for human lives both of its own citizens and those of other nationalities a lack of humanity and ity and growing inadequacy both internally and on the international stage that is why Russia opes to spend its revenues on killing ukrainians among the most recent appalling attacks was a strike on a supermarket in the center of constantina thek region on August 9 the Russian missile killed at least 14 civilians including three children and injured 44 others on August 20 a Russian mil artillery shell struck a children's playground in the village of Mala kinva zapara region killing one child and injuring three other children on August 25 Russia deliberately targeted a hotel in the city of kator Danes region with with an isander missile a reuter steam along with with local residents and workers were among those who suffered from the strike unfortunately a safety adviser from from the UK was killed and two journalists were injured one of them seriously these are just a few of Russia's barbaric war crimes all of them must be condemned and punished Mr President there is a clear distinction between the parties in this war Russia attempts to annihilate Ukraine which is why it targets residential buildings stores and critical infrastructure Ukraine wants to stop the violence and to diminish Russia's capacity to attack therefore we aim at legitimate military targets including places of concentration of Russian troops and Equipment arms and Fuel deports and Logistics centers recently Ukraine forces attacked military air bases Sava savasa in noar region and marinovka in wagad region these attacks damaged or destroyed combat aircraft and weapons including guided aerial missiles we will continue to eliminate Russia's com combat potential regardless of the threats Putin's repres Representative makes hair and The Fakes he spreads responding to him is a waste of our time and un resources he does not influence the decision- making process in his country his Capital does not take into account his reports even if he ever reported the truth therefore I would rather address members of the security Council who despite tolerating the toxic presence of the Putin's unvoid in the chamber realize the scope of the threats to Bo International Security and The credibility of the council we urge you and all Partners to consider two specific decisions to help us put an end to Russian Terror sooner first to acknowledge Ukraine's right to long range strikes on all legitimate military targets throughout Russian territory second to engage Partners air defense capabilities to shoot down missiles and drones close to their air space none of these steps are escalatory on the contrary they will deter Russia reduce Terror and the number of casualties at this moment Russia has put everything on the line to advance in donbas all traditional methods are being used by Russian military commanders including continuous meat grinder meat grinder assaults and complete destruction of settlements to a moonlike surface currently Russia is racing to the ground raising to the ground the city of pakros in dank region aiming to advance on the ruins with no residence and no intact buildings this is what Russia calls liberation of dbas dozens of dbas cities and Villages have been completely destroyed and depopulated during these Liber Liberation Ukraine will continue fighting against this current day barbarism everywhere including in the territory of Russia that is why Ukraine could not stand idly by observing Russia's military buildup in ksk region and his preparations for Attack on Ukraine's Sumi region similar to the Russian offensive on harv from the belgrad region this may responding to this danger Ukraine launched a defensive operation in designated areas of the K region due to these preventive actions the immediate danger of occupation of sui has decreased the dictator's confusion has been evidenced by the fact that he could not find the strengths and courage to appear before the public for several days recently an unpleasant truth was revealed about poorly equipped and inexperienced conscripts abandoned by their commanders and readily surrendered and about the mass Looting of local residents and businesses property Properties by Russian soldiers in the past Russians in infected by prop aganda dismissed similar videos of Russian looters filmed in Ukraine as fake now they are shocked by video footage from the ksk region where Russian soldiers were again stealing this time from their own fellow citizens while carrying out the operation in the ksk region the Ukrainian Army strictly adheres to International humanitarian law we also have no political plan regarding these areas that contradict the UN Charter I would like to underline that the goal of the operation is strictly defensive at the same time Ukraine establishes military administrations to ensure order and normal life for the local population ample video footage as well as reports by the international media give proof to the Humane treatment by Ukrainian servicemen towards the local civilian population as well as towards towards Russian prisoners of war the latter are safe in Ukrainian captivity and Ukraine is ready to ensure their Swift exchange for Ukrainian PWS Sunday's exchange proves our resoluteness to bring all our soldiers and illegally detain civilians out of Russian captivity as soon as possible unlike the Humane treatment by Russian PE of of Russian PWS by Ukraine our servicemen captured by Russia face cruelty and torture unfortunately more crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of War have been recorded recently for instance the prosecutor General's office of Ukraine is investigating footage which appeared on August 17 and shows soldiers of Russian Russia's 155th Naval infantry Brigade with what appears to be a a severed head of a Ukrainian servicemen put upon a spike in the background we are extremely concerned about the fate of Ukrainian servicemen in Russian prisons as they remain subject to ill treatment and torture leading to death in July Ukrainian P Alexander iska former soldier of the 12 Special Forces AO Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine was killed in rosov detention facility in Russia according to a forensic report made in Ukraine his death was caused by blunt force trauma to his chest multiple reap fractures and shock torture in captivity including with fatle outcomes is a deliberate and S sanctioned practice by the Russian side as recently stated by Danielle Bell the head of the UN Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine in an interview with a Dutch television I quote torture is regular and widespread affecting over 95% of prisoners end of quote at the same time she emphasized that the treatment of Russian PWS in Ukraine is entirely different and international access to them is ensured we remain convinced that the security Council should address the appalling situation with the ill treatment and torture of Ukrainian PWS by Russia we also reiterate the inadmissibility of Russia's excluding as of servicemen from prisoner exchanges and demand this shameful practice be stopped Mr president Ukraine remains committed to the peace process aimed at seizing violence hostilities and violations of international law the comprehensive just and Lasting peace should should and will be based on the principles of the UN Charter this is the core of the Ukrainian peace formula the implementation of which is well underway the expended meeting of the working group on on energy security took place on August 22nd to discuss the contribution to the peace framework to be presented at the second pece Summit this conference on energy security has opened a series of events aimed at implementing the agreements reached at the inaugural peace Summit in Switzerland we encourage all peace loving states to engage in in further process and contribute to the restoration of international law and the multilateral security architecture I thank you I thank the representative of Ukraine for their statement I now give the floor to his Excellency Mr travos lambrinides head of the delegation of European Union to the United Nations thank you very much Mr President I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and his member states the candidate countries North Macedonia Montenegro Ukraine the Republic of mova and Bosnia and herova as well as Armenia aeran andur Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this state statement I would like to give off by thanking ASG yansa for your briefing coming after a new series of massive Russian attacks it once again reminded us as if reminding was necessary of the dramatic consequences of Russia's illegal unprovoked unjustified aggression against Ukraine and its people last Saturday last Saturday exactly 2 and a half years since Russia's fullscale Invasion millions of ukrainians celebrated their independence day a hardfought Independence one that Russia has been trying its utmost to undo by sheer force for two and a half years one that Ukraine on its part has been forced to exercise its inherit right of self-defense to protect to restore his territorial integrity and to protect his existence as an independent sovereign country and member of these United Nations under international law Ukraine has the right to take actions to protect itself from Russian attacks under international law Russia must fully abide by the order of the international court of justice of March 22 and immediately and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine while ukrainians courageously defend their country Russia further intensifies its attacks on civilian infrastructure including Ukraine's energy sector not only does it not withdraw its troops it is intensifying its illegal attacks according to the office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights July was the deadliest month for civilians in almost 2 years years with at least 2019 killed over 1,000 injured 60 children included in those numbers we repeat our call on Russia to immediately and unconditionally halt its systematic air strikes against Ukraine civilians and civilian and critical infrastructure which violate International humanitarian law on Monday in one of its largest air strikes since the beginning of its aggression Russia hit the KE Hydro elective power plant the UN has the UN has repeatedly documented Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure as well as its use of so-called double tap strikes where it uses high Precision weapons to strike the same location twice within a short interval causing additional casualties among civilians and first respondents Russia dear colleagues shows a similar disregard for the welfare of civilians in the areas in temporary occupies by unlawfully impeding the delivery of humanitarian relief the UN the UN has frequently highlighted the challenge of reaching civilians in areas currently under temporary Russian occupation this means an estimated 1.5 million people are being cut off from humanitarian Aid in accordance with International humanitarian law Russia must facilitate full safe rapid unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need we furthermore remain deeply concerned about the fate of all Ukrainian children unlawfully deported and transferred to Russia and bellarus Mr President Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression and for other most serious crimes under international law as well as for the massive damage caused by their War ensuring accountability for violations of international law is necessary to deliver Justice for ongoing atrocities and can deter future ones a lack of accountability on the other hand only emboldens the aggressor and its accomplices I itate the eu's support for the comprehensive just and Lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter to this end Russia the aggressor must end its war of aggression and withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine other countries must refrain from any actions that may amount to complicity the EU welcomes the outcome of the summit on peace in Ukraine in June we ask all countes to continue supporting a comprehensive just and Lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law president allow me to close by reaffirming once again the eu's unwavering support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity with its interally recognized borders every country's independent sovereignty territorial integrity certainly Ukraine's we will continue to support Ukraine and to defend the UN Charter in response to Russia's illegal aggression and we will do so for as long as it takes thank you Mr President I thank his Excellency Mr laines for his statement I now give the floor to the representative of Romania thank you very much Mr President and I would want to thank you and the council for the opportunity to speak um and participate in today's meeting I also want to thank ASG ych for the briefing uh Mr President this week members of this Council just returned from a visit to Geneva to Mark 75 years since the adoption of the Geneva conventions and today these commitments are taken by International Community in the aftermath of the second world war continue to be seriously undermined and we do fail to put a stop to the suffering civilians innocent victims of a of aggression we reiterate the need for the United Nations humanitarian Personnel to be granted access to distribute life- saving aid for the benefit of the Ukrainian civilians their protection from indiscriminate attacks is a must Mr President for more than two and two years and a half Ukraine is making use of a legal provision from the UN Charter it's inherent right to self-defense peace needs to be built on the UN Charter and the basic principles of international law Romania supports the peace initiative of President zalinski as the only way to adjust and Lasting peace with we hope for This Promise of peace to deliver results before the end of this year failure in this endeavor will result into another difficult winter for Ukrainian civilians disruptions in heating might trigger another wave of internally displaced persons or refugees in wintertime we remain very concerned about the continuation of attacks by the Russian Federation against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure of Ukraine endangering the population of Ukraine and neighboring states alike I would also like to address the issue nuclear safety the resolution of um called Safety and Security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine including the zapar roia nuclear power plant adopted last month by the general assembly called for the immediate cessation of attacks by the Russian Federation against critical energy infrastructure of Ukraine which increased the risk of a nuclear accident or incident at all nuclear facilities of Ukraine we reiterate this imperative and our support for the work of the IAA in ensuring nuclear Safety and Security in Ukraine and another message that my delegation would like to register is the following there is no space for irresponsible actions towards or at nuclear facilities Mr President peace in Ukraine cannot be realized without accountability both the international court of justice and the international criminal court made pronouncements in line with their mandates and they must be fully respected and implemented we continue to strongly support their judicial activity and call for respect of their their independence lastly as our leaders are preparing to come to United Nations next month for the summit of the future we need to recommit not only in words and in spirit and not as a slogan but through meaningful action to the lofty objectives and principles of the UN Charter this aggression continues to be as unjustified today as it was 30 months ago and this will not change with the passing of time principles are nonnegotiable they only the only variables are our actions and our behavior and there is a strong need to reverse the current Trend and restore the full respect for the UN Charter thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Romania for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Denmark thank you Mr President I have the honor to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries Finland Iceland Norway Sweden and my own country Denmark we thank assistant Secretary General Genta for his for this briefing on 24 August we markk the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's Independence a day dedicated to celebrate Ukraine's own unique history culture and identity but also the right to freely choose its own future and aspirations the Nordic countries remain UN voring in our support for Ukraine's Independence sovereignity and territorial Integrity within its internationally recognized borders just 48 hours after the Ukrainian Independence Day Russia launched a major missile attack on the regions of Kiev Odessa Vena kuk nepro and many other regions targeting civilians and critical infrastructure this once again shows Russia's blatant disregard for international law we strongly condemn such henious attacks these massive air strikes are among the worst since the onset of Russia's illegal unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression president Russia's goal remains to subjugate Ukraine in the areas it has temporarily occupied Russia has brought death Terror and and destruction no one wants peace more than Ukraine whose people continue to suffer the consequences of Russia's aggression but it cannot be peace at any cost at the peace Summit in June in Switzerland more than 100 countries and international organizations from across the globe came together to reaffirm the support for a peaceful resolution based on international law including the UN Charter the summit reconfirmed widespread international support for the peace process and convey strong political will to solve concrete challenges on food and nuclear security persons deprived of their Liberty and deported persons The summit's Joint commun Echoes a common message conveyed in the countless statements made in the council and the Seven resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly we all have a shared responsibility to work towards promoting a comprehensive just and Lasting peace in Ukraine based on the UN Charter Charter and in line with Ukraine's peace formula president last month the UN General assemble assembly adopted the resolution on Safety and Security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine including the saporia nuclear power plant the Nordic countries welcome the continued engagement by the UN community in work working towards peace in Ukraine as demonstrated by the adoption of a resolution on this important matter despite this Russia's systematic and detrimental attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure continue unabated Russia has again chosen to weaponize supplies of energy and critical energy deliveries the Nordic countries are firmly engaged in Ukraine's peace formula Point 3 on energy security and we are committed to support Ukraine in the rebuilding of its energy infrastructure we we reiterate that attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects are strictly prohibited under International humanitarian law and must stop immediately with 14.6 million people already in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine we are confronted with a harsh reality unless Russia immediately hals its attack and the energy INF infrastructure is rebuilt quickly there will be grave consequences for the civilian population during the fast approaching winter in closing the nordics once again reaffirm our unwavering support to the founding principles of the UN including the inviolability of sovereignity and territorial Integrity of all states we call on Russia to cease all hostilities and withdraw troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Denmark for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of Poland thank you Mr President Mr President uh allow me to start by congratulating Ukraine on the occasion of this Independence days day uh which was celebrated just a few days ago uh to quote the president of Republic of Poland Andre Duda who visited Kiev on the very day we are here today to show the that neighbors stand with Ukraine that Ukraine is not alone and that we are not afraid and of quote uh the war waged by Russia should remind us all that Independence which many of our societies take for granted in fact is not given for free and sometimes it must be defended at a very high cost Mr President it is regrettable that despite the significant number of councils meeting during the last two two and a half years there is no breakthrough in the discussion due to the Russia's continued legal and barbaric war against Ukraine the harsh reality is that Moscow is not planning to stop it anytime soon the recent massive attacks from the air involving hundreds of missiles and drones which struck various locations throughout Ukraine give a clear picture of the aggressors aggressors intentions in this context I let me for let me inform you uh distinguished members of Security Council of repeated violations of Polish airspace and thus the NATO airspace by Russian a assault which Poland strongly condemns recently we have seen a significant intensification of such actions they destabilize the European security environment and pose a threat to infrastructure civilian population as well as air traffic we urge Russia to stop its attacks against critical infrastructure and appeal to all states to redouble efforts to ensure energy security of Ukraine including nuclear energy infrastructure this could include for example providing air defense around the critical infrastructure spare parts and power generators as well as increasing energy exports Poland once again condemns in the strongest possible terms continued heinous attacks against Ukraine Moscow shows that total disregard for humanitarian law which results in thousands of Civilian casualties and injuries Mr President on a general note Russia's aggression against Ukraine stands in stark contrast with our efforts to build a stable and peaceful world based on respect for Universal principles and international law with the UN Charter at its core it is crucial that the International Community has no doubts Moscow aims at replacing this Noble concept with an alternative where sheer military power is the basic principle in relation between the states such an approach to international relations Is Not and should never be accepted uh we are also want to highlight broader implication of the Moscow actions contributing to economic instability and threatening security not only of Europe but also over other regions of the world Mr president Ukraine has a very and every right to defend itself and protect its citizens and sovereignity taking all the necessary measures in compliance with international law it is our common duty to support the victim of the aggression in defending its basic basic rights stemming from the UN Charter given the current circumstances any temptation to turn to the policy of appeasement should be decisively rejected freezing the conflict will not bring the lasting peace in Ukraine as Russia will use the PO to regroup for another attack illegal actions which are being continued must be contempt not not rewarded there is only one way to end this conflict Russia must withdraw its forces from Ukraine and stop the aggression and I thank you for your attention I thank the representative of Poland for their statement and now give the floor to the representative of lva thank you Mr President I have the honor to address the Council on behalf of three Baltic states Estonia Lithuania and my own country latva we align ourselves with a statement of the European Union we thank assistant Secretary General Mir yena for the briefing yet again Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities and people on Monday 26 August Russia launched 127 missiles and 109 shahad combat drones attacks that took place right after Ukraine's Independence Day this past weekend have kept most of the country under strain for 8 hours this is assessed to the largest Russia Air Attack since beginning of the fullscale invasion in 2022 targeting Ukrainian capital city of Kiev cities of Lviv Odessa harv zapara and others again and again Russia has deliberately targeted civilian and critical infrastructure residential buildings hospitals gas facilities electric power plants including unsuccessful attempt to destroy the dam of the Kiev hydroelectric power station this energy infrastructure is crucial for supply of basic services to people in their homes schools and hospitals on August 14th two humanitarian workers died in a Haron hospital after being injured by Russian shelling last week Russian forces attacked the hotel tell in a city of kator killing reuter's staff member and injuring four other International journalists including a lavian journalist these are blatant violations of the international law including the UN Charter the Baltic states strongly condemn Russia's criminal actions am made Russia's fullscale illegal and unprovoked War of aggression against Ukraine we call upon aggress to immediately completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders we also call on bellarus Iran and the dprk to stop their assistance to Russia to conduct its cruel war against Ukraine B Russian armed forces have concentrated significant number of military assets along the border with Ukraine which is an unwarranted escalation the Baltic states joined the call of Ukraine to withdraw belarussian forces from the Ukraine state border we remain ready to further limit Russia's ability to wage war and urge all countries not to provide any material or other support for Russia's war of aggression Mr President Russia and its leaders must be held accountable for the crime of aggression through an international tribunal that enjoys enjoys broad support and legitimacy we fully support and urge the International Community to implement icj binding order to hold the military offensive by Russia against Ukraine and ICC arrest warrants issued to Russia's top political and Military leadership the Baltic states support Ukraine's peace initiative and encourage other members of the United Nations to join it we welcome the outcome of the peace Summit held in Switzerland this June and encourage all countries to continue supporting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law in conclusion let me reiterate that the Baltic states strongly support Ukraine's exercise of its inherent right for self-defense and refor reaffirm our full solidarity with Ukraine to restore territorial integrity and sovereignity within its internationally recognized borders and I thank you I thank the representative of lva for their statement there are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers the meeting is adjourned I understand why Lely but why am I I'm my family is in Russ l [Music] [Music] all IND one more hour to go e for spe I I you're good you're strong yeah you're good one man follow e e e you for sorry us [Music] [Music] the 9,714 meeting of the Security Council is called to order the provisional agenda for this meeting is maintenance of International Peace and security the agenda is adopted in accordance with rule 37 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite the representatives of Denmark lvia Poland Romania and Ukraine to participate in this meeting it is so decided in accordance with Will 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite Mr Miroslav yancha assistant secret general for Europe Central Asia and America's Department of political and peace building Affairs and peace operations to participate in this meeting it is so decided in accordance with 39 of the council's provisional rules of procedure I invite his Excellency Mr stos lambrinides head of Delegation of the European Union to United Nations to participate in this meeting it is so decided the security Council will now begin its consideration of item two of the agenda I give the floor to Mr mlav yancha thank you uh Mr President on Saturday 24 August Ukraine marked its 33rd Independence Day the day also marked a somber Milestone of two and a half years of Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law on this occasion we reiterate the United Nations full commitment to the sovereignty Independence and territorial Integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders over the past 30 months millions of ukrainians have V witnessed unimaginable death Devastation and destruction according to the office of the High Commissioner for human rights since 24 February 2022 11, 662 civilians have been killed 639 of them children 24,27 civilians have been injured 1,577 of of them children this July was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine in almost two two years at least 219 civilians were killed and 1,8 injured tragically these figures only grow as missiles shells and drones continue to hit cities towns and Villages across Ukraine daily in the past 2 days hundreds of missiles and drones reportedly killed at least 11 people and hit energy and other critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine damage was reported in 15 regions with at least 11 energy facilities effective this vast destruction further aggravates the already precarious access to energy and water for millions of people they earlier on 24 August amidst escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine a missile struck a hotel in the town of kator donet region of Ukraine reuter staff member was killed and four Jour journalists injured similar attacks on hotels restaurants markets and shopping areas in frontlight communities have been reported we are are also concerned about the impact of the spread of fighting on the civilian population on both sides of the Ukraine Russia border including in the sui and khif regions of Ukraine as well as in the ksk belgorod and Brians regions of the Russian Federation following the start of Ukraine's incursion into the ksk region on 6th August local Russian officials reported at least 12 people killed and 121 others injured according to local officials at least 130,000 people have been evacuated from the region ohchr has not received additional reports of Civilian casualties or related harm and is not able to confirm these reports as it has no access to the Russian Federation and the areas impacted by the fighting as the Secretary General repeatedly underlined attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable no matter where they occur these attacks are prohibited by International humanitarian law they must end immediately we urge all sides to act responsibly and ensure the protection of civilians Mr President we are alarmed regarding reported incidents around the nuclear facilities in Ukraine and Russia in August the international atomic energy agency iaea reported deterioration of the nuclear safety situation at Ukraine's zapia nuclear power plant on 17 August a drone strike hit the road around the site perimeter on 11 August significant fire at one of the cooling towers resulted in considerable damage the iaea team has also reported periodic intense military activity near the plant including sounds of frequent explosions repetitive heavy Machine Gun and Rifle fire and artillery at various distances from the plant concerns are also rising over nuclear Safety and Security in the ksk region of the Russian Federation on 22 August the Russian Federation informed the international atomic energy agency that remains of a drone were found within the territory of the ksk nuclear power plant we welcome yesterday's visit to the ksk nuclear power plant by iaea director General gry and his personal efforts to ensure nuclear Safety and Security in Russia and Ukraine we also commend iaea's ongoing monitoring of the situation at all of Ukraine's nuclear sites including Europe's largest plant in zapor isia we continue to call for maximum restraint and vigilance to avoid a nuclear incident the consequences of which could be catastrophic to the region and the world Mr President after a decade of conflict in the east of Ukraine and occupation of the autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of sevastopol and following two and a half years of fullscale war the suffering of the people in Ukraine continues unabated women in Ukraine are facing particular risks they make up 50 6% of the 15 million people in need of humanitarian assistance we are concerned about the reported 40% increase in cases of gender-based violence in Frontline areas particularly in the east and south of Ukraine entire Villages and towns have been either partially or completely devastated according to O CHR 546 medical facilities and 1,36 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed as we have previously briefed humanitarian operations in some areas lack access to people in need we remain deeply concerned about the 1.5 million people who we are unable to reach in parts of donet hon luhansk and zoria regions of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation like all others living close to the front line in Ukraine they require urgent access to health care and Medicine food and clean drinking water in accordance with International humanitarian law humanitarian law it is imperative that impartial humanitarian relief be f facilitated for all civilians in need the hostilities have displaced millions of Ukrainian people who continue to need our support nearly 3.7 million people have been internally displaced within Ukraine more than 6.6 million Ukrainian refugees have been recorded globally this year to get together with our partners the United Nations aims to reach 8.5 million people with live saving assistance including through its winter response plan so far donors have provided 41% of the $3.1 billion US do required under the humanitarian needs and response plan we thank them for their generous contributions however the already dire humanitarian situation is expected to versen as hostilities show no signs of abating and the wi winter approaches Mr President we welcome the recent exchanges of prisoners of War facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and other actors we encourage the sence to step up these efforts to bring all prisoners of War home however we express serious concern about the treatment of prisoners of War held by the Russian Federation the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has reported that prisoners of War were subdued to prolonged and routine torture dire conditions of uh interment and repeated sexual violence prisoners of war must be treated in accordance with International humanitarian law Mr President we cannot allow the horrific Devastation of this war to become normalized now more than ever it is critical for us to speak with one voice to ensure protection of civilians and to step up our urgent efforts towards peace next month the world leaders will gather for the summit of the future to forge new international consens on how we deliver a better present and Safeguard the future we hope that this Summit will help enhance Global collaboration at a time when it is most urgently needed and we hope that these efforts will also bring us closer to laying the foundations for a just lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine in line with the UN Charter international law and the resolutions of the general assembly the United Nations remains ready to support any meaningful efforts to this end thank you I thank Mr Yan chair for his briefing I now give the floor to those council members who wish to make statements I give the floor to the representative of Slovenia thank you very much Mr President and thank you very much for organizing the meeting today I would also like to thank assistance Secretary General yena for uh the briefing I believe it was useful for the council to hear uh the latest on the most extensive conventional War um the world has seen in decades so Mr President in the last two days we were reminded of the viciousness of this war when Russia launched one of the largest combined strikes we have seen since its beginning almost 300 drones and missiles heat apartment buildings and energy infrastructure across Ukraine including reportedly a hydr power plant in the Kev region these unnova strikes against civilian and civilian infrastructure are blatantly violating International humanitarian law and need to stop immediately and there is no sign that the intensity of fighting is decreasing to the contrary as assistant Secretary General yena said the UN recorded more than 1,200 civilian casualties in July alone which makes it the deadliest month for civilians in almost 2 years this brings me to my first point the sheer extent of human life lost to this war instigated by Russia is intolerable and it compels us to look for peace a just and Lasting peace for Ukraine and its peoples as we pass the two and a half year mark from the start of the war it is high time for a peace process to begin it it is obvious that there cannot be peace without the involvement of and dialogue between all parties in this regard we hope that the Russian Federation will demonstrate genuine willingness to end the war and engage in good faith negotiations based on International norms and in full respect of the UN Charter secondly as the war keeps on ranging the stakes are getting higher this is especially obvious with to the Safety and Security of nuclear power plants in the region at the saaria nuclear power plant in the span of a single month we have seen fire in one of its cooling towers power outages and a drone strike in the direct vicinity of the plant the situation is perilous and it will turn into devastating if the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear Safety and Security and the five basic principles for the protection of zorian nuclear power plant are not respected this does not hold just for the nuclear power plants on the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine but other nuclear power plants and civilian nuclear facilities affected by armed conflict as well so colleagues Slovenia welcomes and fully supports IAA director General gross's activities in this regard we also believe this Council should address the importance of preventing civilian nuclear facilties is becoming a Target or object of armed conflict any attack on civilian nuclear facility or the prevention of its normal operation could result an in an unimaginable long-term humanitarian and environmental disaster and we are ready to engage in order to prevent this Mr President it is devastating to see this war expanding in the territories eting gules and in destruction it causes this however does not absolve the council from its duty to ensure International Peace and security including in Ukraine Slovenia will not cease with its Endeavors to build trust in order to secure the future of ukraini ukrainians and Russians for that matter with a just and Lasting peace thank you I thank the represent Slovenia for their statement I give the floor to the representative of United States uh thank you Mr President and thank you assistant Secretary General yanf for your briefing on August 24 1991 Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union two and a half years ago Russia launched an unjustifiable full-scale invasion of Ukraine and today continues what is a decade long assault against Ukraine's Independence Ukraine has an inherent right to defend its independence sovereignty and territorial Integrity against Russia's aggression this right is enshrined in article 51 of the UN Charter Ukraine's people are fighting defying the kremlin's attempt to redraw Ukraine's borders by force they are fighting valiantly and heroically though Russia continues to brutally strike Ukraine's critical infrastructure as it did over the past weekend launching its largest aerial attack since the War Began a volley of hundreds of missiles and drones killing more than a dozen civilians and damaging energy facilities in July Russia hit Ukraine's okad Children's Hospital in Putin's war of choice Russia has forcibly transferred and deported thousands of civilians including children and caused 6.4 million refugees to flee the country and another 3.5 million to be internally displaced there is no justification for these acts today the Kremlin is endangering this uperia nuclear power plant we call on Russia to asede to the demand of a 100 of its fellow UN General Assembly members and return control of the plant to the rightful competent Ukrainian authorities Russia cannot and will not subjugate Ukraine the United States will continue to uphold the foundational principles of the UN Charter and support Ukraine against Russia Russ's aggression as it preserves its independence Ukraine and the United States Made Concrete progress by signing a historic bilateral security agreement in June but we are not alone with the Ukraine compact 32 NATO allies and partners pledged to support Ukraine's immediate security needs and maintain Ukraine's long-term defense and deterrence capability Ukraine's Independence Day serves as a reminder of what is at stake the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial Integrity our commitment to those principles like our commitment to Ukraine will not waver the United States will stand by Ukraine as it seeks a just and Lasting peace consistent with the UN Charter and when the world's leaders come to New York next month to reaffirm their commitment to the UN Charter they are also reaffirming their support for a basic principle Russia cannot redraw Ukraine's borders by force the United States once again calls on Russia to stop its Relentless attacks against Ukraine and to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine's territory we hope that next year ukrainians will be able to celebrate their independence in peace thank you Mr President I thank the representative of the United States for their statement I give the floor to the representative of Japan thank you Mr President we would like to thank the United States and Slovenia for requesting this meeting and Sher Leon for arranging it I also thank ASG yena for his comprehensive briefing first and foremost We join the global community in congratulating all ukrainians on the 33rd anniversary of their independence on August 24th Ukraine has been fighting desperately for its independence sovereignity and territorial Integrity principles enshrined in the UN Charter that no one can undermine we are concerned about the use of seemingly neutral phrase of so-called war in Ukraine to divert attention from the true nature of the situation let me make it clear this unprovoked war against against aggression uh this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has been brought by Russia this fact remains unchanged as clearly recognized by the overwhelming majority of the general assembly we express our deep respect for and strong solidarity with the Ukrainian people who have been defending their country for more than 2 and a half years our support has been unwe favoring from the outset Mr President in addition to violating the UN Charter Russia continues to disregard the Geneva conventions I would like to take a moment to reflect on what Russia's aggression has caused in Ukraine as we have heard from the briefer today there have been countless civilian casualties families have been torn apart by forc deportations of ukrainians including children countless critical civilian infrastructures such as power plants and dumps have been destroyed the continued occupation of Europe's largest nuclear power plants cuses a risk of nuclear disaster the overall damage has been too extensive to enumerate fully despite being a permanent member of the security Council Russia continues to violate the related Security Council resolutions it has agreed to including importing missiles from North Korea for use in Ukraine Mr President the International Community must keep United on fundamental principles we reaffirmed our commitment to the international order based on the rule of law we strengthened our solidarity based on common values including respect for sovereignity and territorial Integrity as well as human rights and dignity to prevent any further attempts to change the status quo by force anywhere in the world we emphasize once again that Ukraine must Prevail and peace in Ukraine must be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter we continue to demand Russia's immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine we reiterate our unshakable position to adhering to the UN Charter and urge Russia to do the same I thank you Mr President I thank the representative of Japan for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Republic of Korea uh thank you Mr President I extend my gratitude to as yancha for his briefing I also welcome the participation of Ukraine Ukraine permanent representative at today's meeting on August 24th it was Ukraine's Independence Day which should have been a day of celebration of national sovereignty and unity but sadly ukrainians are still suffering from the ongoing conflict that has lasted already for two and a half years for the past few weeks we have witnessed a significant escalation along the battle fronts Ukraine's military operation within Russian territories was followed by Russia's intensified hostilities which caused the rising civilian casualties the mandatory evacuation of affected areas and renewed destruction of critical civilian infrastructure Russia's attacks including the V large scale one on Monday involving hundreds of missile and drone strikes continue to threaten all ukrainians and the pl them into darkness just as they are approaching the third winter since the War Began at this point my delegation highlights the following points first we are deeply concerned about ongoing dangerous situation of zapia nuclear power plant following the increased military activities in its vicinity as a country operating 26 nuclear reactors on its soil and having host the second nuclear security Summit in 2012 the Republic of K joins call for a halt to any and all escalator actions that risk a nuclear catastrophe all parties must Faithfully cooperate with IAA to prevent such an instant we appreciate the ia's efforts to ensure the nuclear Safety and Security in the region since the War Began we are also closely monitoring the results of the iaea director General's visit to the Kus nuclear power plant in Russia second as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Geneva conventions we deplore that these Landmark Global commitments for protecting victims of war continue to be blatantly ignored in Ukraine indiscriminate attack against civilians and civilian objects including energy infrastructure is in violation of international humanitarian law and must be condemned unequivocally the R treatment of prisoners of war and detainees must also stop and ultimately those committed war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine should be held accountable third we support the international community's diplomatic efforts to end this war in line with international law and the UN Charter affirming Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial Integrity even amid the intense fighting on the ground we cannot lose hope for diplomacy at the same time as everybody in this chamber knows there is a simple and shorter path that is Russia's withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine's territories Mr President we note with great concern the Ukrainian authorities announcement that North Korea's ballistic missiles were used Again by Russia to strike Ukraine on July 31st and August 11th Russia cannot cover up its illegal procurement of North Korea's weapons and use of them against Ukraine which violate multiple Security Council resolutions we once again strongly urge Russia to fulfill its solemn responsibility as a permanent member of the security Council by haling its illegal military transactions with dprk we also condemned the dprk for being complicit in Russia's illegal Invasion prolonging the war in Ukraine and threatening International Peace and Security in wider regions including Europe and East Asia in closing Mr President the Republic of Korea will support to Ukraine until they achieve just and Lasting peace in their territories based on our bilateral Ukraine peace and solidarity initiative I thank you Mr President I the representative of Republic of Korea for their statement and I'll give the floor to the representative of washingt thank you Mr President colleagues accredited reporters started asking are ask for a meeting on Ukraine this month the United stat and allies decided to give up on their practice of artificially maintaining the Ukrainian issue regardless of what the real needs for its discussion by the council course we could not and provide an in place of our Wern colleagues even though we do have a version of two people looked very UNF during the course adventure and that is what ukrainians themselves called The Reckless attack by the col simply could not hundreds evidence showing that Ukrainian nationalists are executing peaceful citizens including women and children that they strike against Civ cars the launch drones and ambulances strikes against reporters and volunteers trying to save people from Ukrainian executioners that they loot Russian Villages and then they post all of that on the internet destroy ining resal build hospitals ciens and while they're doing that they demonst some evidence that is something that we have shown during the ARA meeting for the security Council of AUST and since then their number has only grown this happening at a territory which has no military facilities where which is mostly populated by peaceful women children and the elderly been evidence the is intentionally shelling the course and is planning to take over it during a military operation this kind of recklessness trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences for the entire of Europe and this is the best place answer who is trying not to notice the KF regime attack against NP this is what principal ostrich like leads to is uncomfortable even to Brussels already in 2014 they have given a card blanch to the k for the Western sponsors of the also by true regime was shown during the attack on the cess didn't clearly this is not the best background possible to request a security council meeting and that's why Western colleagues waited until the very end of the of the month and requested a meeting under the wire hoping that the thinking of the leader of the KF regime will become clear by now and there will be at least some positive outcomes by now of its adventurous and Reckless decision the rational of and the reason for this suicidal adventure of the Ukrainian president has not become clear way and the outcomes are even worse essentially Ukraine has suffered greatly in terms of service and material but for some reason holds on to a few villages in kist and using for that very few re reserves including the ones taken from the East where because of that the Ukrainian front is collapsing the Russian moving growing every day we're liberating newer and newer in recent days we and me also includes Village which under the authorities was being called New York for 3 years our unit have already entered such important Strat points which is going to become we are nearing the most important Transportation listic Hub in pakros which is going to then become crossnar daily in August GRE two compared to July and became 11.2 Square K and recently it has reached the level of 30 square km it's important at the same time to remember that the ab of reserves been used in well now the Russian the last strongholds that the Ukrainian forces used to R since and this is only the beginning Ukraine will have to pay for the cor Adventure understand the request for the meeting today by the Western um conspirators of regime was on the heavy heart the US and soues at the same time need to bear in mind the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces in course fighting using Western weapons they use and lose German American tanks and shell artillery and there in K you also have Western mercenaries and consult and this means Western participation in the crimes of the K regime has become even more obvious this is something we're going to discuss on the 30th of August at the meeting on Western weapons supplies to therefore expecting that the United States and it NATO allies are going to be objective or even Humane inting what is being done by the Ukrainian murders and terrorists would be naive but for such a reasons our Western colleagues do have the formula about the right of KF to self defense protction from Russian aggression and we have heard these Expressions today in this room they sounded false and we'll continue hearing them representative the United States this morning stated uh in that no one member of Security Council when encounter encountering a terrorist organization on this border will not tolerate daily attacks and will not tolerate tolerate displacement of tens of thousands of its citizens are but such a position the United States have reserved for Israel exclusively when it comes to um crimes against Russia and Russians Washington has not been paying attention for that for a long time Mr President undertaken by the Ukrainian president has one more we will recall that in June President of Russia put for a peace proposal on Ukraine if refle realistic situated in the front and takes into account after that the retoric of the ukrainians become more peaceloving and many of our colleages from the global sou rushed to the conclusion that we reaching the state of peaceful negotiations those of you who thought that way did not take into account that the C regime cannot enter into any kind of an agreement this was shown in the case of the Minsk agreements and also the peace agreement which was um um initialized in istan and this this time as well theime deceived one who talked about together with them instead they decided for escalation they attacked the C goas and all of the questions were removed this way and I do hope that no one is left with any kind of an illusion therefore we never them and that's why we continue implementing the targets of a special milary operation peace on Ukraine which is something that the zy regime is not interested in colleagues call upon those who Washington allies are trying to bring into their political games bying Elites and take a look at the example of Ukraine and you will see what this kind of Ukraine was the wealthiest sovet Republic great military potential and it now became one of the poorest states of the former USSR it econ is destroyed its industry is destroyed it land is being sold to coroporation is became a platform for American bi Laboratories and now is a platform for the testing of Western weap and introducing Western democracy has led to the total oppos of fre of speech or even Freedom religion recently political presid to the dictatorship of president president who not only did not Implement any of promis of made before the election war with Russia defending wal interest and a result of in addition to that of his own into the meat grer hundreds of thousands of the of it Nationals just to keep onto power this is the true um sad outcome that Ukraine has achieved by 33rd anniversary of its independence that is the cost of the mistakes and blunders made by the Ukrainian leadership so as to please the West probably understanding that this year the Western countries Inc previous years decided to even go forego any kind of action in support of Ukraine inste of they decided to spend time in The Well of Geneva discussing the anniversary which are which were being at the same time violated in K I would to say that believe the blood Ukrainian tragedy provoked by the United States and NATO and that this will serve as a lesson for anyone who could potentially end up in a similar situation I thank you I thank the representative of Russian Federation for their statement and I give the floor to the representative of Guyana thank you Mr President I thank ASG yena for the update provided and welcome the participation of the representatives of Ukraine the European Union Romania Denmark Poland and lvia in today's meeting Mr President while today's meeting was convened to discuss the political and security situation in Ukraine we will be remissed to not speak at the outset about the ongoing violations of international law violations that continue to bring death and destruction to civilians on both sides as the war spreads farther away from the front lines with each passing day each month we continue to receive alarming reports of Civilian casualties mostly occurring in Ukraine since February 2022 over 34,000 civilians men women and children have borne the brunt of thousands of attacks July Mr yancha reminded has been the deadliest for Ukraine we deplore the continued attacks against civilians and civilian objects despite numerous calls by this Council and the general assembly for full adherence to International humanitarian law including the principles of Distinction proportionality and precaution we demand an immediate end to all attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects and indeed call upon the parties to the conflict to desist from launching such indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks we also stress the need for accountability for all such violations Ghana further demands that the conflict parties take constant care to protect civilians and civilian objects from harm and all necessary measures to minimize the risk of Civilian injury death and damage to civilian property the status quo cannot allow to continue every member state has an obligation to abide by the UN Charter and The Wider body of international law Mr President with each life lost each family torn apart and each home bombed anger and hatred spread and the prospect for peace diminishes Guyana therefore stresses the urgency of resolving this conflict through peaceful means prolonging it will only exacerbate the risks and consequences for all concerned and further threaten International Peace and security as I have stated previously innocent lives cannot continue to be sacrificed at the altar of political brinkmanship we must choose peace we therefore reiterate our call to the parties to commit to a serious political and diplomatic process toward ending the conflict we urge them to engage in good faith to bring an end to the suffering of the millions of men women and children who have already paid too high a price Mr President as we have just heard from ASG yena the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is dire it will only get worse as the winter season approaches Guyana urges the International Community to give increased attention to the plight of the 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine and to scale up support for the humanitarian need and response plan we call for continued international support for the victims of this war including medical psychological and legal support with particular attention to children and survivors of sexual violence we further stress the need for access to be granted to the people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in the occupied territories we call upon the Russian Federation to Grant humanitarian access to all populations in need in these territories Guyana also calls for the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine in closing Mr President Guyana will continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful and sustainable end to this War I thank you I thank the representative of gyana for their statement I give the floor to the representative of China president I thank ASG yena for his briefing since the Ukraine crisis fully escalated in February 2022 2 years and a half have passed these two years and a half have witnessed protracted fighting on the ground deteriorating humanitarian crisis and ever unfolding spillover effects this is tragic and worrisome since the beginning of this month the war has taken a new turn with both parties to the conflict thrown into a new round of fierce fighting leading to severe casualties and infrastructure damages the endless protection of the war will bring nothing but more harm more damages and finally a loose loose outcome making already turbulent world even more unpredictable of the increasingly CIA and complex situation China has repeated repeatedly stressed on many occasions that the current priority is to follow the principles of no spill over of the battlefield no escalation of the fighting and no fueling of Flames by any party with the view to achieving the escalation as soon as possible we welcome the new round of Pres business exchange between Russia and Ukraine under the good offices of U we once again call on both parties to stay calm exercise restraint abide by IHL in real Earnest and refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure or nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities for peaceful purposes we call on all parties to the conflict to demonstrate political will move towards each other cease the fighting and launch these STS at an early date we call on the International Community to uphold objective and impartial position and to this end create favorable conditions and provide concrete support presid despite the twists and turns on the path towards peace China has been committed to working for peace and promoting as long as it is conducive to alleviating the situation and facilitating negotiations China is there making its efforts recently the Chinese government's special representative for Europe and Asia visited Brazil South Africa and IND for the fourth round of shut diplomacy on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis during the exchanges all parties highly commended the Sixpoint consensus proposed by China and Brazil on the question of Ukraine they all expressed worries about the escalation of the conflict and un unanimously called for early launch of these talks China is ready to continue its close communication with the global South and other relevant countries and make unremitting efforts towards a political settlement in conclusion I wish to reiterate that on the question of Ukraine China has always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial Integrity of all countries should be respected that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed that the reasonable security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously and that all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crisis should be supported based on the mentioned four principles the four mentioned above China will continue to work for a political settlement thank you president I thank the representative of China for their statement I give the floor