On a Tuesday, at the United Nations Security Council, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy insisted that diplomatic discussions alone will not be enough to alleviate the war tensions between his nation and Russia. To achieve peace, he asserted, pressure must be applied on Moscow.
The Ukrainian leader has been persistently soliciting the backing of the West for his conceived ‘victory plan’, intended to terminate the war that erupted as a result of Russia’s wholesale incursion into Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelenskiy is adamant that to achieve an end to the ongoing war, it won’t be simply a matter of becoming war weary or through negotiations with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President. He rejected the idea that offering up some Ukrainian territory taken by Russia would resolve the conflict.
Zelenskiy firmly accused Putin of infringing numerous global standards and laws, asserting that Russia would need to be coerced towards peace as it is the only instigator of the war and is in direct contravention of the UN charter.
The President also levelled accusations against North Korea and Iran, denouncing them as implicit collaborators of Moscow due to their supplying of arms for the war.
According to Zelenskiy, the future of Ukraine is shrouded in uncertainty. A potential victory of Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the coming US elections on November 5th could lead to a revision of Washington’s stance on Ukraine. This is of significance as Ukraine primarily relies on American military and financial assistance. Opinion polls suggest that the US elections will be closely contested.
Since the invasion took place over two and half years ago, Russia has occupied approximately 20% of the Ukrainian territory and continues to make advances towards the east.
In Zelenskiy’s view, if his plan secures the backing of the West, it could potentially exert a profound influence on Moscow, including a psychological impact powerful enough to force Putin to consider a diplomatic conclusion to the war.
President Zelenskiy expressed reserved details concerning his strategy for victory, only indicating it as a path to a Ukraine-led peace summit that Kyiv hopes to stage later in the year, with Russia extended an invitation. However, the UN ambassador for Russia, Vassily Nebenzia, vocalised his opposition to the council’s reception of Mr Zelenskiy at the gathering.
Nebenzia criticised Western nations for once again tarnishing the atmosphere, treading the well-worn path of the Ukrainian issue. China and the US’s top ambassadors also experienced frictions at the meeting. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, aimed critical words at China in the council, implying that they were offering notable support to Russia through the provision of machinery, microelectronics, and other resources necessary for Russia to rejuvenate, resupply and amplify its war machinery and maintain its harsh invasion.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi rebuffed the allegations from the US, asserting that Beijing’s support for Russia had no connection to its ongoing war in Ukraine, and that blaming China was illogical and unproductive. He declared that any attacks or misrepresentations of China were irresponsible and without outcome.
In other news, Ukraine’s air force stated that it had successfully intercepted 28 of 32 drones and four of eight missiles during a nocturnal assault from Russia. Four missiles were unleashed targeting Odesa’s southern region according to the air force. Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, stated that a missile impacted an open space, causing a fire that has been since extinguished without causing harm to individuals.
Convoy trucks sustained damage from falling debris according to the governor, communicated via the Telegram app. The governor of the Kyiv region, Ruslan Kravchenko, announced that a drone strike on the region caused no harm to critical or residential infrastructure, while a bombardment on Kharkiv’s northeastern region in the early hours of Wednesday damaged a hangar. Another guided bomb assault on Kharkiv city resulted in three people losing their lives and 36 injured, imparted by regional governor Oleh Syniehubov via the messaging app.
Russia repudiates claims of targeting civilians, although it is responsible for thousands of deaths over the span of more than two and a half years of intensified invasion.