S/PV.9436 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Ukraine to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; and Mr. Garland Nixon, political analyst. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I give the floor to Mr. Ebo Mr. Ebo: Since the previous briefing to the Security Council by the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs on this topic, one month ago (see S/PV.9415), the provision of military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine has continued in the context of the full-scale invasion of that country, launched by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Information from Governments regarding their transfers of weapons systems and ammunition is largely accessible through open sources. Those transfers have reportedly included heavy conventional weapons such as battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, combat aircraft, helicopters, large-calibre artillery systems, missile systems and uncrewed combat aerial vehicles, as well as remotely operated munitions and small arms and light weapons and their ammunition. Reported transfers of arms and ammunition to the Ukrainian forces have expanded over the past months. We also take note of reports related to the transfer of depleted-uranium tank ammunition to the Ukrainian forces. In addition, there have been reports of States transferring, or planning to transfer, weapons such as uncrewed aerial vehicles and ammunition to the Russian armed forces, including for possible use in Ukraine. As has been stressed by the High-Representative for Disarmament Affairs, any transfer of weapons must take place within the applicable international legal framework, including relevant Security Council resolutions. Reports related to the use of anti-personnel landmines and the use and transfer of cluster munitions in Ukraine are deeply concerning. On behalf of the High Representative, I call for an immediate end to the use of those inhumane and indiscriminate weapons, which has severe and lasting humanitarian impacts. Landmines and explosive remnants of war have resulted in widespread contamination in Ukraine, posing a threat to civilian lives, rendering land unsafe for agricultural use and disrupting transportation and access to humanitarian aid. The process of mapping that contamination and clearing the land safely will be long and will require resources and the support of the international community. States that are not yet parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction and to the Convention on Cluster Munitions should make every effort to accede to those Conventions. I also reiterate the High Representative’s call to all relevant parties to abide by their obligations under the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, as well as not to transfer or use any mines prohibited by its Amended Protocol II. The large-scale influx of weapons and ammunition into any situation of armed conflict raises significant concerns for peace, security and stability, including as a result of diversion and proliferation even after the conflict has ended. Measures to address the risk of the diversion of weapons and ammunition to unauthorized end-users and for unauthorized uses are essential for preventing further instability and insecurity in Ukraine, the region and beyond. Such measures include the enhancement of marking practices, comprehensive pre-transfer diversion risk assessments, end-user certificates, including non-transfer clauses, effective legal and enforcement measures and post- shipment verifications. Preventing the diversion of weapons and ammunition requires supply chain transparency and cooperation and information exchange between importing, transit, and exporting States. Equally required are concrete measures such as marking and tracing, effective accounting and comprehensive record-keeping practices, physical safeguarding of arms and ammunition, customs and border control measures and diversion-monitoring and analysis. I further note that the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms remains a key tool in that regard. Transparency in arms transfers can serve as an important confidence-building measure, contributing to the prevention and reduction of misperceptions, tensions and ambiguities among Member States. To prevent the diversion of conventional arms and ammunition and to effectively regulate the international arms trade, States have established a number of arms control instruments, such as the Arms Trade Treaty, the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and its International Instrument for the Timely and Reliable Identification and Tracing of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons. In addition, discussions in the dedicated Open-ended Working Group recently culminated in the adoption of its final report (see A/78/111) containing a set of political commitments as a new global framework for through-life management of conventional ammunition. I look forward to the General Assembly’s endorsement of the global framework and next steps in its operationalization to counter the diversion of conventional ammunition. Accordingly, I call upon all States to join all relevant treaties and agreements, including multilateral instruments, to fully implement their legal obligations under these agreements and to respect their political commitments to minimize the risk of diversion of arms and ammunition. The impact on civilians of the intensifying war in Ukraine continues to be an area of serious concern. From 24 February 2022 to 8 October 2023, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 27,768 civilian casualties in Ukraine, with 9,806 killed and 17,962 injured. The actual figures are likely to be considerably higher. The vast majority of civilian casualties are a result of the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects, including by shelling from artillery, tanks and multiple-launch rocket systems, and cruise and ballistic missiles and by air strikes. The continued use of large numbers of armed uncrewed aerial vehicles against civilians and civilian infrastructure is concerning. Armed uncrewed aerial vehicles, just like any other weapons or weapons systems, must not be used in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call for parties to conflict to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and to take combat out of urban areas altogether. Such use results in harm to civilians, including in Ukraine. I therefore urge all Member States to support and effectively implement the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. That Declaration is an important tool to strengthen the protection of civilians in populated areas in conflict zones. On behalf of the High Representative, I condemn the systematic and relentless attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and services across Ukraine, including against health, educational and grain-storage facilities. International humanitarian law obligates parties to armed conflict to protect non-combatants and prohibits attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects. Furthermore, all feasible precautions must be taken in the conduct of military operations to avoid  — or at least minimize  — incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop immediately. Those responsible for attacks targeting civilians must be held accountable. The United Nations will continue working towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, in line with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly resolutions. I reiterate the Secretary-General’s call to all States to do their part to prevent further escalation, to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and to end this senseless war.

I thank Mr. Ebo for his briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Nixon. Mr. Nixon: I would like to open by thanking the honourable representatives of this Organization for providing me the opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Garland Nixon, and I am a retired police official, a journalist and, in my opinion, a representative of the working-class citizens of the United States. As a student of history, I recognize that the location of the United States has, with a few notable exceptions, shielded our land from the decimation of war. I also recognize that the proliferation of nuclear weapons has eliminated that geographical advantage and the people of this nation face the same existential threat as the many nations that were literally flattened during two World Wars. In February 2022, Russia elected to enter the military conflict in Ukraine, and we, average working -class citizens, were provided by our media with an assortment of shallow, simplistic and often conflicting reasons for that action. Fortunately, many of us knew the truth about the potential for that escalation long before it flared up. We recall that in 2019, Oleksiy Arestovych, a close adviser to President Zelenskyy, was quoted as saying that with a probability of 99.9 per cent, their price for joining NATO would be a big war with Russia. We recall Professor John Mearsheimer’s prophetic prediction that “the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path, and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked”. Lastly, we recall the list of security demands, centred around NATO expansion, that Russia issued on 17 December 2021. Notwithstanding the ahistorical claims of Russian expansion or President Putin’s hostility towards democracy, we find ourselves today in an extinction-level crisis that can and must be resolved through diplomacy, in the manner that was initially proposed in mid-December 2021. Since the February 2022 entrance of the Russian military into the battle, the United States Government has injected over $100 billion in arms and other forms of assistance into the conflict. A significant portion of that assistance took the form of small but powerful armaments. Many of those handheld weapons possess incredible destructive capabilities. There are shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons, known as man-portable air defence systems, that can easily take down a civilian passenger aircraft, and anti-tank rockets that could be used with devastating effect on a convoy of civilian vehicles, such as the ones that many diplomats in this room routinely utilize to traverse their respective nations. The injection of those military-grade weapons into an environment as unstable as Ukraine is beyond irresponsible. In the instance of the European Union, it may end up being suicidal for many of its citizens. We are already confronted with instances of weapons from this conflict finding their way, via the black market, to Africa, which means that the nations of Europe are most likely already inundated with dangerous military hardware. The leaders of Europe must recognize that this conflict will eventually come to a conclusion, and, when that happens, the powerful weapons of war that will have flooded their societies, will not simply melt away. The most violent and criminal elements in Europe and beyond will possess the ability to threaten the internal stability of any nation that they choose. They will need no army or organized structure. A lone-wolf attacker with an anti-aircraft or an anti-tank missile will be able to destabilize an entire nation with a single act. Who among us would be comfortable taking a commercial flight if criminal or terrorist actors shoot down a civilian plane in Paris, London or Brussels? I can guarantee that just the mention of that potential tragedy is eliciting a fear response in those of us who routinely travel on commercial aircraft in the European region. I wish only that the inevitable ad hominem attacks against me as a speaker would change this outcome. It would be a fair and reasonable burden to accept if those who would diminish the obvious nature of my assertions could somehow alter the ghastly inevitability that the innocent citizens of Europe will be forced to endure. I implore the members of the Council to push for a peaceful resolution of this conflict and an expansive project to locate and gather up the brutal weapons that will surely threaten the lives and livelihoods of the hard- working citizens of the European continent and beyond. I need not recite, word for word, the innumerable recent quotes from Western media outlets implying that the argument for a Ukrainian victory against the Russian army is no longer plausible. According to reliable sources, the Ukrainian military has lost more personnel in the last few months than the United States military lost in a decade of fighting in its ill-fated misadventure in Viet Nam. The highly trained and powerfully equipped NATO-sponsored military that opened the conflict has been wiped out and replaced by conscripts. Those minimally trained troops are being placed in a hopeless situation. Those who claim to support Ukraine must recognize that putting civilians in camouflage fatigues, giving them a few weeks of training and setting them off against impregnable defensive positions is an unconscionable act of human sacrifice. Supporting a nation obviously entails ensuring that the safety and prosperity of its citizens are secure. Recent statements and advertisements by United States supporters of this conflict makes it clear that they are unconcerned with the human consequences of their decisions and clearly demonstrate a reckless disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people. Recently, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham stated that “Russians dying is the best money the United States has ever spent”. In that amoral, but incredibly enlightening statement, Senator Graham openly exposed that he viewed the appalling numbers of dead Ukrainian soldiers as an insignificant and reasonable price to pay to achieve his ultimate political goal of weakening the Russian military. With supporters like Senator Graham, Ukraine is in little need of adversaries. Additionally, it is critical that we consider the economic health of the hard-working people of Europe. As the makers of the aforementioned weapons of war celebrate outrageous profits, the loss of cost-effective Russian energy has set in motion a deadly downward economic spiral. The people of Europe are facing another cold winter, with unaffordable heating costs and the very real prospect of industrial collapse. The potential for such an economic catastrophe has already sowed the seeds of political and cultural instability. Governments have begun to fall and, should the current Middle East crisis metastasize, a winter without Russian energy would result in the immediate and precipitous demise of the European economic bloc. I only wish that this claim were over the top and improbable. It is clear and obvious that the prosperity of the European region is facing great peril, and we must ask ourselves whether it is moral and just to destroy centuries of economic and cultural advancement for an esoteric ideological battle. Today we face an incredibly dangerous situation — one that could, without notice, spiral out of control and turn our beautiful planet into an icy uninhabited rock. However, despite the existential threat that this conflict represents, I am pleased to bring good news to the Council. Despite the devastation and loss of life that this war has visited upon the European continent, there is hope. We have a road map for peace, and if reasonable diplomatic minded leaders can find the intellectual and moral wherewithal to act with haste and determination, a resolution for this conflict can give birth to a security structure that ensures peace and stability on the European continent and beyond. However, the first and most important act required to set that desired outcome into motion is that the Western nations immediately cease contributing to the influx of weapons and secure the lives of the front- line Ukrainian troops by offering a unilateral ceasefire with a guarantee, wherein non-aligned nations such as those in Africa and Latin America, are authorized to ensure that the agreement is not compromised. That is not to be confused with propositions for a ceasefire that simply allows the Ukrainian military to rearm for the furtherance of future conflict. Due to the nuclear potential of this conflict, developing nations have a stake in the outcome and therefore must be involved in its resolution. I call upon the Security Council to live up to its name. This unity of nations has been called upon to ensure world security. From the instance that nuclear weapons were introduced into the military sphere, this time was inevitable  — a time in which irresponsible leaders would threaten the existence of humankind was sure to visit itself upon humans. However, we must also remember that this inevitability was the very foundation for the creation of the Security Council. I ask the Council to take action and live up to its calling. Stop the flow of weapons into the Ukrainian theatre, push for an end to hostilities and work for a resolution of European security that takes into account the security of the European nations, the Russian Federation and the overall threat that this conflict presents to the existence of humankind. I conclude by reminding the Council that, even as we seek to conclude this conflict with a peaceful resolution, a second wind of ill fate blows across our planet. Of the three major nuclear superpowers, the one in which I reside is pumping billions of dollars of weapons into the border of one and, literally, into a province of the other. The reckless act of destabilizing and weaponizing Ukraine has a loathsome and vile twin on the Chinese island of Taiwan. Again I remind the Council of the words of the ever-hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham, who, when speaking about the Ukraine conflict, referenced Taiwan by stating that “they are going to fight to the last man in Taiwan.” This suicidal march towards nuclear conflict must be stopped, and I beseech the Council to begin the process immediately by stopping the flow of weapons to Ukraine and expediting a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

I thank Mr. Nixon for his briefing. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

First and foremost, we would like to thank Mr. Ebo and Mr. Nixon for their substantive briefings. With astonishing tenacity, which deserves better use, our Western colleagues convene meetings every month on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, hypocritically calling for a swift cessation of hostilities, which, in their understanding, is possible only with the de facto defeat of Russia. In fact, de facto, they continue to do the exact opposite. They are pumping Ukraine with various types of weapons and are dissuading the Kyiv regime from realistic scenarios to settle the Ukrainian crisis. The volume of Western assistance to Ukraine continues to break all records. If we were to tackle this issue seriously, we could have our meetings every day, with new developments at every occasion. However, there are no sensible substantive proposals from our former Western partners that would actually help to find a peaceful solution. We have not heard any such proposals in any of the previous meetings. Instead, all we get is baseless accusatory rhetoric against our country, while the issues that are uncomfortable for our former Western partners are carefully ignored or swept under the rug. Therefore, in this statement, we would like to touch upon some items that are uncomfortable for our former Western colleagues, whose cynicism today is astonishing. Mr. Nixon already quoted Lindsey Graham today, and I would like to quote the Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren, who, on 4 November explicitly stated that Ukrainian was a “cheap way” of countering Russia. Der Spiegel writes that Kyiv has become the main importer of ammunition and hardware from Germany. Over the first nine months of the year, more than a third of Germany’s military exports went to Ukraine, representing $3.3 billion. Furthermore, the Kyiv regime has at least 13 foreign private military companies and nine militarized proxy formations  — almost 1,000 well-armed and -trained fighters from 35 countries. I underscore that Russia is countering not the Armed Forces of Ukraine, whose resources are almost depleted, but the collective military machine of NATO countries and all their military-industrial complexes combined. It has reached the point where, through their irrepressible fuelling of Kyiv’s ambitions, many Western European countries have already almost fully depleted their arsenals of ammunition and small arms. But the sponsors of the Kyiv regime will not rest. Reserves are now being tapped into and, under the direction of the United States, pulled from other parts of the world, such as Israel and South Korea. However, the military machine of the Kyiv regime continues to collapse before our very eyes. At the same time, Zelenskyy continues to haunt the corridors of Western capitals, persistently begging for fresh handouts. Washington is stooping to various machinations in order to deceive public opinion in the United States and pass the next aid package for Ukraine through Congress. The United Kingdom has supplied Ukraine with Terrahawk Paladin anti-aircraft guns as part of a £100 million aid package, £70 million of which was allocated for air defence. Upon his visit to Brussels, Belgium has also decided to gift Zelenskyy $1.7 billion in assistance for weapons purchases. Incidentally, those funds are tax deductions from interest on Russian assets that have been frozen — or in other words, stolen by the West. Germany announced a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, including IRIS-T surface-launched missiles. The Head of the Pentagon, Mr. Lloyd J. Austin III, stated the need to ensure a constant and uninterrupted flow of weapons to Ukraine, and also announced the formation of some sort of coalition of countries that would help Ukraine to develop its own air force. He is also threatening to start deliveries of F-16 jet fighters beginning in the spring of 2024, as if those were capable of changing anything. Irresponsible statements about the future of Ukraine in NATO persist, despite it being universally understood that such a scenario will only worsen the European security crisis  — the military actions in Ukraine being a direct consequence. Nevertheless, the Western sponsors of the Kyiv regime are attempting in any way they can to play down the ever-louder appeals from civil society in their own countries about how Ukraine, which is mired in corruption, is dealing with the gigantic volumes of weapons transferred to it. More and more evidence is emerging that control over such arms supplies once they have fallen into Kyiv’s hands is weak or completely absent, the results of which are disastrous. The scale of corruption in military supplies in Ukraine is simply off the charts. For example, just a few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that weapons that had been transferred from the West to Ukraine had been located on the borders of Israel as early as in the summer of 2023. The fact that weapons are reaching the Middle East via Ukraine through well-known schemes of corruption was essentially confirmed by a representative of the Kyiv regime in this Chamber on Monday (see S/PV.9431), as he proactively yet clumsily tried to shift the blame onto Russia. As we all know, a guilty conscience gives itself away. Despite formally denying reports from the Israeli military about the discovery of ammunition with the mark of an Armed Forces of Ukraine unit stationed in the city of Mukachevo, in Transcarpathian region, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches in Mukachevo the next day and made a series of arrests. No comment, as they say, is necessary. We would not be surprised if weapons from Ukraine were to surface in other hotspots. Against that backdrop, Western arms manufacturers are rubbing their hands with glee. Orders and profits in the American and British military-industrial complex are skyrocketing. In addition, many Western countries are cynically using the current situation to rearm their own militaries, dumping all sorts of hand-me-downs on the Ukrainians. Ukraine has firmly established itself as a testing ground for military equipment and technologies. After watching Leopard tanks burn in Ukraine, the United States, according to the Asia Times, decided to abandon the M1 Abrams tank in favour of lighter and more compact vehicles. Unlike Ukraine itself, its Western backers are deriving direct gains from the conflict. The Ukrainians, who have become pawns in the geopolitical games of others, are the only losers here. Against that background, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing serious problems with regard to replenishing their ranks, as their mobilization campaign is stalling. It is no coincidence that the Verkhovna Rada began discussing a bill to abolish age restrictions for older soldiers — essentially, Ukraine’s so-called servants of the people want to remove the upper conscription bar so that their troops may serve until death. Meanwhile, calls in Kyiv for the recruitment of more young men are growing louder. The former top adviser of the Kyiv regime, Mr. Oleksiy Arestovych, who has already been mentioned today, is now working on a new political project aimed at ensuring Zelenskyy’s victory in any upcoming elections, and therefore somehow has the right to some controlled free-thinking. He admitted that it is already difficult to motivate 45-year-old Ukrainians, while 25-year-olds are still immature and prideful enough to be ready to fight. Only now Kyiv is running out of both 25-year- olds and 45-year-olds. Therefore it would appear that it is the turn of Ukrainian pensioners to become cannon fodder. It is no coincidence that Ukraine’s 60–70-year- old “fighters” without any training are increasingly surrendering to Russian troops. But those who are behind the anti-Russia project in our friendly country of Ukraine do not care about that whatsoever. Our Western colleagues continue to pump Ukraine full of weapons and cash and demand that it achieve victory on the battlefield at any cost. However, the funds generously allocated for such purposes could have been spent with much greater benefit — at the very least, on investing in pre-war Ukraine and developing its potential for good-neighbourliness, including with Russia, on the basis of support for measures and actions that are normal for any civilized State, in particular in the context of protecting the rights of national minorities. At worst, those funds could have been spent on implementing the Minsk agreements endorsed by the Security Council as the sole means of resolving the internal Ukrainian crisis, not to mention development projects in Ukraine itself, let alone in other countries in need. Yet Western countries prefer to stuff Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, including cluster munitions and depleted uranium. The volume of financial assistance provided by the United States and its allies to the countries of the global South cannot be compared with what the West has allocated for weapons for the war with Russia in under two years. Ukraine received more than €80 billion for that purpose, with the total amount of funds allocated to it standing at €165 billion. Meanwhile, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there are currently 363 million people in the world in dire need of some kind of humanitarian assistance. In order to meet the needs of all country-specific humanitarian plans this year, the United Nations requires $55.5 billion, of which only 32 per cent had been received at the end of September. Since February 2022, the European Union (EU) has allocated $70 billion to Kyiv, including $37.8 billion in humanitarian and financial assistance. A total of $15 billion was spent on military supplies to Ukraine, and $17 billion on the placement of Ukrainian refugees in the EU. In June 2023, Brussels announced another aid package to Ukraine for 2023–2027, to the tune of €50 billion. Meanwhile, the EU has allocated a total of €4 billion to operations for the maintenance of peace and security in Africa over the past 15 years. Expenditure on food security in the region in 2023– 2024 will amount to €4.5 billion — 11 times less than what has been promised to Kyiv. Ukraine also enjoys preferential treatment with regard to credit support among Western-centric financial institutions compared to Africa and other regions of the global South. The average volume of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes for African countries in 2023 was 237 per cent of the quota, but thanks to pressure from Western IMF shareholders, it was 677 per cent of the quota for Ukraine. The $15.6 billion assistance programme for Kyiv approved in January exceeds the six-month volume of IMF loans to all African States. With the approval of the IMF and the World Bank, the Kyiv authorities have received financing in the amount of more than $43 billion — more than half of the total amount agreed by the Bretton Woods institutions for the poorest countries with high levels of debt under the so-called Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which has been implemented since 1996 and was intended to provide various debt relief mechanisms for low-income countries. The scale of selectivity of Western humanism has always been astonishing. Against the backdrop of current challenges in the world, those countries really have shown their true colours. Of course, such an imbalance has not gone unnoticed. The President of Mexico, Mr. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, recently said that, instead of sponsoring the conflict in Ukraine, the United States would do well to pay greater attention to the problem of eradicating poverty in Latin America. It is positive to note that certain responsible representatives of the humanitarian wing of the United Nations have begun to talk about that issue openly. Thanks to the efforts of its Western sponsors, Ukraine is drowning in debt — according to the latest IMF data, its external debt this year will exceed 88 per cent. An economy that is based solely on the military does not lead to growth, hence why the standard of living in the country is falling. Contrary to the facts, Zelenskyy’s regime continues to promote its narrative abroad of exemplary success in combating corruption. That is despite the fact that the so-called First Lady of Ukraine, on her visit to New York in September, spent more than $1 million — that has surely come to Ukraine from the pockets of American and European taxpayers  — in one of the most expensive jewelry stores in the world in a single evening. Such examples of the Ukrainian elite throwing money around abroad regularly appear in the news. Against the backdrop of the failure of the counter- offensive by the Kyiv regime, which is passively and at times actively supported by its Western sponsors in the egregious use of terrorist methods, it is now attempting to strike civilian objects in Russia. At the same time, details of the involvement of Western intelligence agencies in a number of such crimes are surfacing, and no one has tried to hide the fact that Ukrainian saboteurs who bombed the Crimean bridge in October 2022 were trained by the United Kingdom Special Forces. London is supplying the Ukrainian army with underwater drones, training saboteurs and providing them with intelligence, which makes the United Kingdom, together with the United States, a direct accomplice in the crimes committed by the Zelenskyy regime. Such support and impunity will serve to make the leaders of the Kyiv junta only more cynical and brazen. For example, the Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, recently revealed that his country’s special units had tried three times to seize the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant despite the fact that the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Grossi, admitted that Mr. Zelenskyy had personally given him assurances that there would be no action against nuclear power plants. I have brought all the preceding facts to the attention of Council members to give them a better idea of the actual situation in and around Ukraine. In order to complete the picture, I would like to add that, over the past few days, Russian troops have been engaged in active combat operations along almost the entire front line. Therefore, the so-called Ukrainian counter-offensive can already be formally considered finished. Its cost to Ukraine has unfortunately been the Kyiv regime’s mobilization of tens of thousands of recruits, most of whom did not want to fight in the first place — those who were able to surrender and remain alive have been lucky — and the destruction of hundreds of units of Western equipment. This is the only thing that the Kyiv regime can boast of during the past four months. Instead of ending the massacre, our Western colleagues continue to provide the Kyiv regime with weapons, prolonging the agony, in the same way a drug dealer prolongs the agony of a junkie. Their goal is to damage Russia as much as possible through Ukraine and render the country as uninhabitable as possible, despite the fact that Ukraine and Ukrainians — those who live in peace with its neighbours and respect the rights of all its citizens, without discrimination — have never actually been under threat. Such a Ukraine had and has a future, unlike the criminal neo-Nazi regime of Zelenskyy, which, according to Mr. Arestovych, has formed an internal tyranny — the tyranny of a man who came to power on promises of peace in the Donbas and respect for the rights of Russian-speaking Ukrainians, but who did the exact opposite. The sooner the Western sponsors of the Kyiv regime realize that and draw the necessary conclusions, the better it will be for the Ukrainians who have managed to survive, as well as for the Western countries that are increasingly undermining their fabled values every day in their blind support of the Zelenskyy regime.

I thank the Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Ebo, for his briefing today. His continuing efforts to counter weapons diversion are critical. Nearly one month to the day since Russia previously called a meeting on this issue (see S/PV.9415), we are once again here at Russia’s request. Make no mistake, addressing security threats from the illicit proliferation of conventional arms is a long-standing United States international security priority. We take exception to Russia’s continued cynical effort to turn the Security Council into a pulpit for its ever-growing disinformation campaign. It is the height of hypocrisy for a member of the Council — a permanent member, no less  — that has invaded another Member State in violation of the Charter of the United Nations to raise questions about that very Member State’s inherent right to self-defence, as reflected in the same Charter. The Kremlin undermines the Council with continued irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, the procurement of arms from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions on that country, the procurement of certain armed drones from Iran in violation of resolution 2231 (2015), and continued threats to global food security through its unilateral suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and endangering cargo vessels in the Black Sea. It is farcical that Russia would request a meeting convening us here today to discuss the implications for the prospects of the resolution of the conflict around Ukraine, when it is Russia that launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and when it is Russia that could end the war today by simply withdrawing its troops. This past Monday, we met in this Chamber (see S/PV.9431) to discuss Russia’s decimation of the Ukrainian village of Hroza, as just one example of its unrelenting attacks, which kill innocent people and destroy critical infrastructure. Russia’s invasion of and sustained attacks against Ukraine for more than 18 months are the real threats to international peace and security. However, Russia would instead have us believe that it is our provision of aid to Ukraine to assist in its legitimate self-defence that is prolonging the very war Russia began. Meanwhile, Russia is procuring weapons from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and drones from Iran in direct violation of the Council’s resolutions to further its offensive war. Those are real threats to international peace and security, to the global non-proliferation regime and to regional stability that the Council should be discussing. Just last week, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, published satellite imagery captured on 5 October of approximately 73 rail cars at the Tumangang rail station in Rasŏn, a city in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on its border with Russia. That figure represents an unprecedented level of freight railcar traffic at the station. The report made the assessment that “the dramatic increase in rail traffic likely indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia”. As a reminder, Security Council resolutions prohibit all Member States from procuring arms or related material from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Any revenue the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea receives from such transfers could be channelled by Pyongyang to further develop its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic-missile programmes. We once again urge the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to cease its efforts to transfer arms to Russia. We again call on Russia to recommit to the maintenance of peace and security and to its obligations to uphold the United Nations arms embargo on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which Russia itself voted to adopt. However, as we all know too well, Russia continues to violate resolution 2231 (2015) by procuring certain attack drones from Iran for use against Ukraine. The United States has shared extensive documentation and information with every member of the Council. Just yesterday, together with the United Kingdom, we co-hosted a display of recovered Iranian material at our Mission here in New York. The unlawfully procured Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles have been used in attacks on critical and civilian infrastructure, including the ports that Ukraine uses to export grain to the rest of the world. The Kremlin’s single-minded pursuit of procuring weapons, while flagrantly and repeatedly violating Security Council resolutions, of which, once again, Russia itself voted in favour, is the real threat to international peace and security. The United States will continue to support Ukraine’s self-defence, including through the provision of arms and equipment that enable Ukraine to defend its territory and protect its people from Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war. We will continue to expose Russia’s illicit efforts to acquire military equipment from Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or any other State that is prepared to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. We once again renew our calls for Russia to abide by its Security Council obligations. We once again call on Russia to recommit to its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Council. We once again call on Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, and to do so immediately.

I would like to thank Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, for his briefing. I listened carefully to the briefing by Mr. Nixon. We are very concerned by the intensification in recent weeks of the bombings and other attacks against civilian infrastructure, populations and essential infrastructure, including grain storage units. Whether offensive or counter-offensive, indiscriminate strikes do not spare children, women or older persons, as we saw in the recent attacks in the village of Hroza. The reconfiguration of alliances and military rapprochement, as well as the changes made by certain countries to their arms policies, are worrisome signs of the scale of the retreat from international commitments in the area of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation. It is of fundamental importance for us to be able to reconcile ourselves with the vocation of the Security Council, which is the Security Council and not a war council. In that regard, the call of the Secretary- General, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, asking States to apply new international rules with regard to autonomous weapons systems must engage all members of the international community because such weapons strike their targets indiscriminately and lead to a high number of civilian victims, including after conflicts. By limiting their use, we will help to limit their inhumane effects. We call upon the warring parties to keep to their obligations under international humanitarian law. It goes without saying that defining new norms and red lines at the global level is an absolute priority in the current context, which is marked by the resurgence of conflict, particularly in the Middle East. My country calls upon all parties to redouble their efforts to prevent the effects of the mass circulation of conventional weapons by intensifying measures for tracking and marking. My country is worried to observe the trend towards normalizing the use of military force with increased recourse to weapons of mass destruction and massive rearmament, and to the review by certain countries of their military doctrine with a clear interest in nuclear deterrence. Such dangerous backtracking flies in the face of the efforts in which we have engaged together that are manifested by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the cornerstone of the international disarmament architecture. A genuine leap forward is essential, and we invite every member of the international community to participate in order to reconnect our Organization with its primary vocation, namely, to save current and succeeding generations from the scourge of war. The war in Ukraine must cease as soon as possible. The suffering and destruction must be brought to a halt. And that can be done only by activating channels of diplomacy and through negotiation. We call upon all parties, including the regional and subregional organizations of which the warring parties are members, to create conditions that will enable dialogue and negotiation in order to silence the guns in Ukraine and guarantee peaceful coexistence between all parties.

I would like to express my appreciation to Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, for his enlightening insights into the situation in Ukraine. I also extend my thanks to Mr. Garland Nixon for his perspective on the situation. Mozambique has consistently highlighted the negative effects of the continued arms transfers on the potential resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. While we acknowledge every nation’s sovereign right to self- defence, we also wish to emphasize that it is imperative that all applicable protocols and international arms control agreements be respected in order to ensure global peace and security. That is crucial to preventing the unregulated transfer of arms, which can lead to the unintended proliferation and illicit trafficking of those weapons. There is an inevitable risk of the unrestricted flow of weapons fuelling violence, being misdirected and ending up empowering the wrong entities. Furthermore, the repercussions of careless arms transfers could extend the duration and intensity of the conflict, diminish the hopes for peace and have a cascading negative effect on the broader international community’s efforts towards the maintenance of peace and security. It is therefore a shared global responsibility to seek sustainable solutions. We have persistently advocated for a diplomatic and negotiated resolution. We still believe that it is the sole avenue to resolve the conflict and to lay a foundation for durable and sustainable peace between the nations involved. To that end, it is essential that all avenues, peace initiatives and confidence-building measures be given a chance. When trust is re-established, the pathway to peace will naturally emerge. Mozambique reiterates its steadfast position and urges the relevant parties, first, to immediately halt hostilities; secondly, to return to direct negotiation in good faith; and lastly, to embrace a positive, inclusive and results-driven strategy concentrating on collaborative advantages rather than a narrow competitive stance. In conclusion, the world and the Council need an end to this conflict to be able to tackle other emerging and equally pressing challenges.

I thank Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and the other briefer for their briefings. Today we are again hearing the same claims by Russia. I would like to reiterate the real nature of this war of aggression. It is clear that Russia is a country violating the Charter of the United Nations in this war of aggression. Ukraine is a country exercising its right to self-defence as stipulated in the Charter. One is the rule-breaker and the other is a rule-defender, and our support for Ukraine is also defence of the Charter. Those facts have been the same throughout since February 2022. Even now, after so many events and tragedies, they have not changed. That is why we are calling on Russia to withdraw immediately and unconditionally and end this violation of the Charter. No support, including arms transfers, should be given to Russia. It would be particularly unacceptable if Russia were to violate existing Security Council resolutions while receiving such support. Russia has self-justified the aggression against Ukraine by framing it as a conflict pitting itself against the so-called Kyiv regime and its Western backers. However, Russia’s attempts to mislead the international community have failed, as the overwhelming majority of United Nations States Members have indicated at the General Assembly their will to uphold the principles set forth by the Charter, such as sovereignty and territorial integrity. The international community also understands the root causes of the negative effects this conflict has had on the world. They stem entirely from Russia’s violation of the Charter of the United Nations. There is no need to complicate things with Russia’s misrepresentation of the issues. As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during war, Japan is strongly committed to international efforts towards realizing a world without nuclear weapons. Bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force is exactly one such important effort, and it must be achieved without further delay. In that connection, we are deeply concerned by Russia’s recent announcements about the possibility of revoking its ratification of the CTBT. We also remain concerned about the possibility of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. At the recent Russia-North Korea summit, it was announced that they agreed on strategic and tactical cooperation. We are closely monitoring whether that would lead to a violation of Security Council resolutions  — potentially another rule-breaking by the responsible Council member. No country should engage in cooperation that would undermine the non-proliferation regime which we all value. It is clear from these facts that it is quite natural to argue that any call for peace should respect and abide by the Charter of the United Nations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Moreover, any call for a ceasefire should be directed at Russia, the rule-breaker. Russia should stop making meaningless claims in this Chamber and respect the Charter of the United Nations immediately. It should do so now.

I thank Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Mr. Ebo for his valuable briefing, and I welcome the participation of the representative of Ukraine in today’s meeting. Essential to the right to self-defence that all Member States possess is the ability to develop defence capabilities. With such activities comes certain risks and, with those risks, responsibilities for mitigation. To that end, we stress the importance of taking measures to safeguard weapons during their transfer, storage and deployment. We once again affirm our support for the efforts made by the United Nations, in conjunction with Member States, to develop standards and best practices in the pursuit of the global enhancement of weapons safety. That includes the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, as supported by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Armed conflict and the chaos that so often accompanies it create a set of conditions that could lead to unforeseen and unfortunate consequences. Therefore, the United Arab Emirates urges all parties to mitigate the risks associated with arms transfers, storage and deployment, in particular in situations of armed conflict. Ultimately, the most effective way to address the risks associated with the transfer, storage and deployment of weapons in time of war is to bring the conflict to a definitive end. As we have done before and will continue to do, we urge all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law. The protection of civilians and civilian objects is paramount. Although the numbers of deaths, casualties and displaced civilians provide a stark reminder of the cost this war has wrought on the people of Ukraine, the invisible trauma and long-lasting impacts on the population will also leave their indelible mark. The United Arab Emirates stands ready to work with all partners in the pursuit of dialogue and diplomacy and to pave the way towards a just and sustainable peace that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

I would like to thank Mr. Ebo for his briefing. Four days ago, we held an emergency meeting following a Russian-led strike on a building in the Ukrainian village of Hroza (see S/PV.9431). The vast majority of Council members and the Secretary-General condemned that violation of international humanitarian law. The attack caused at least 52 civilian casualties. Russia is once again trying to divert attention from the crimes it is committing. No one believes that the support given to Ukraine is at the root of the conflict or the reason it continues. It was Russia that took it upon itself to provoke this war. It was Russia that attacked Ukraine in defiance of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations. It was only in response to that aggression that many countries, including France, decided to assist Ukraine in exercising its right to self-defence, under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. France, along with its European partners, is committed to providing political, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. We are supplying the country with systems that enable it to defend itself, in particular against indiscriminate attacks against its critical infrastructure and against the civilian population. These arms deliveries are carried out in strict compliance with our international commitments, in terms of controlling arms transfers and preventing diversions. This war has dragged on for almost 20 months, leading to increased instability throughout the world and aggravated food insecurity for the most vulnerable populations. What is undermining the chances of resolving this crisis is Russia’s continued illegal aggression, using weapons, some of which it has acquired, in violation of Council resolutions, from Iran and North Korea. We once again call on Russia to cease its aggression and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, as was requested by the International Court of Justice on 6 March 2022, and as the overwhelming majority of General Assembly members have also repeatedly requested. This is the condition for a just and lasting peace, based on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and on respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

I thank the two briefers for their briefings. With the Ukrainian crisis dragging on, the situation on the ground is still tense and the spillover effect continues to spread. A large number of weapons and ammunition continue to flow into the battlefield. The variety and scope of such weapons are expanding, and the weapons are also becoming more lethal. That has exacerbated the cruelty, danger and unpredictability of ground warfare, making the hope for a ceasefire and an end to the war even more remote. In his briefing to the Security Council, the representative of the Secretariat repeatedly mentioned that a flood of weapons and ammunition into conflict areas may lead to a risk of proliferation and that strict control measures should be adopted. We call on all relevant parties to the Ukrainian crisis to take a responsible attitude, pay greater attention and make every effort to prevent the risk of the proliferation of weapons and ammunition, especially to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists or non-State actors and to prevent new unrest in a wider geographical area which would result in more displacement and the loss of more innocent lives. Like many countries that are hoping to see peace, China has repeatedly stressed that dialogue and negotiation are the fundamental ways to stop the fighting and restore peace. China will continue to stand on the side of peace and dialogue, strengthen dialogue and exchanges with all parties, build synergy within the international community aimed at promoting peace and dialogue and play a positive and constructive role in working for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. Before I conclude, I would like to point out that the world we live in is witnessing a confluence of change and chaos accompanied by a great deal of turbulence and unrest. From Asia to Africa, from Ukraine to the Middle East, we are seeing growing numbers of conflicts and skirmishes. The underlying reasons for that deserve serious reflection. We call on the international community to adhere to the concept of common, integrated, cooperative and sustainable security, advocate for peaceful coexistence, promote dialogue and reconciliation, and take effective measures so as to fundamentally defuse conflicts and problems and achieve lasting peace and common security.

I thank the Deputy to the High Representative of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, Mr. Ebo, for his briefing. We also took note of Mr. Nixon’s remarks. This Council meeting on Ukraine follows one held earlier this week in the wake of the deadly attack in Hroza (see S/PV.9431). A large majority of the Council expressed its concern about the devastating impact of Russia’s military aggression on the civilian population in Ukraine and pointed out that civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected by international humanitarian law. We heard the call for putting an end to the military aggression loud and clear. Russia can put an end to it, at any time, and by doing so eliminate the risks associated with the arms deliveries that it is concerned about. We once again call on it to de-escalate the situation, cease all hostilities and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory without delay. We should never confuse the aggressor with the aggressed. Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine violates fundamental principles of international law. Switzerland rejects any attempt to justify that act or deflect responsibility for its consequences. The prohibition of the use of force and territorial expansion by force are enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Like all States, Ukraine has the right to ensure its security and defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty. As far as arms deliveries are concerned, it is crucial that States respect their obligations. We are deeply concerned by the erosion of the arms-control architecture and the failure to comply with certain rules in that regard. That includes the violation of Council resolutions, whether through Iran’s illegal transfer of drones to Russia or the alleged transfer to Russia of arms and munitions from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Our common security requires a broader vision of this concept, and we support the call made by the Secretary-General in his New Agenda for Peace, which seeks to reduce the human cost of weapons, in particular by providing better protection for civilians in populated areas of conflict zones. In line with that objective, Switzerland has made humanitarian demining in civilian areas a priority of its action in Ukraine. We are committed to the reconstruction of Ukraine and will also pursue our commitment to full respect for international law and accountability. We also support efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the principles of the Charter.

I thank Deputy High Representative Ebo for his informative briefing, and Mr. Nixon for sharing his views. Our position on the dangers and long-term impact that uncontrolled flows of weapons have on regional peace is consistent and long-standing. Our position on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and the need to ensure compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law, is also unequivocal. However, the objective of this meeting, called by the Russian Federation, is another attempt to shift the responsibility for Russia’s war of aggression. It is cynically attempting to distort reality in a bid to depict the aggressor as the victim and the victim as the aggressor. The Council must not lose sight of the real cause of this war. On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched an unjustified and unprovoked full-scale invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine. In doing so, it violated the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law while jeopardizing European security. We must also remember that at no stage did Ukraine commit, or threaten to commit, an attack on Russia. We stand firm in our belief that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders must be safeguarded. Equally, we underline Ukraine’s right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. Through its aggression, Russia continues to be responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. It is deeply concerning that these outrageous acts of violence against Ukraine’s civilians and civilian infrastructure have continued unabated. The recent horrendous missile attacks on innocent civilians perpetrated by Russia in Hroza just a few days ago were some of the deadliest since the beginning of the aggression. They were a grim and stark reminder of the state of fear that the Ukrainian people have to deal with on a daily basis, and we cannot treat it as being part of the new normal. According to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, since February 2022 there have been at least 9,700 civilian deaths in Ukraine. Almost 18,000 others have suffered injuries, mostly as a result of the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects, including shelling from artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, cruise and ballistic missiles and air strikes. As the conflict has intensified, so too has the humanitarian situation on the ground. The war has brought massive destruction to essential services and infrastructure, not least in the areas of water, health care and education. Furthermore, hundreds of security incidents, which affect humanitarian access, have hampered operations in 2023, most notably in areas under Russian occupation. Malta stresses once again the parties’ obligations to protect civilians, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance and immediately cease targeting civilian objects that are indispensable for Ukraine’s population. We are also deeply concerned about the Russian Federation’s recent announcement regarding a possible reconsideration of its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. In conclusion, I reiterate our firm condemnation in the strongest possible terms of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. We once again urge the Russian Federation to end its hostilities and withdraw its military forces, equipment and proxies from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.

We would like to thank Mr. Ebo for his very helpful briefing. Russia has made many excuses in the Council about what its illegal war of aggression was supposed to achieve. It claimed its invasion was defensive and born of a desire to protect rights enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. It claimed that it was about de-Nazification. But now, almost 600 days into its three-day special operation, Russia’s real plan for peace is quite clear. Last week, after relentless Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure, President Putin said that the Ukrainian economy and military would collapse within a week without the assistance of other States. That is the resolution that Russia is striving for — the complete submission of a United Nations Member State. Russia claims that it is Western support that stands in its way. But much as we are proud to be assisting Ukraine, it is in fact the courage and unity of the Ukrainian people that will ensure that Russia fails and that Ukraine will prevail. The reality is that Russia’s war has already been a failure — a historically shameful one. The Ukrainian people know all too well what Russian conquest would mean for them. There have been more than 100,000 incidents of alleged war crimes committed during the conflict, including the murder and torture of civilians, and unlawful attacks on civilian infrastructure with explosive weapons. There have been acts of torture and sexual and gender-based violence committed by Russian forces that the United Nations and other international bodies have extensively documented. And the sham referendums have shown that for Russia, a people’s right to self-determination is found only at the tip of a Russian bayonet. At the same time, the callous sacrifice of many thousands of Russian troops has made clear the value that the Russian Government places on its own people. International assistance to Ukraine is not what is prolonging this war. The fact is that Russia’s military objectives are unachievable. Ukrainians will rightly continue to fight fiercely to defend their land for as long as it takes, and the world is united in supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. That will not change. International assistance to Russia, however, is illegal and immoral. That is why Russia is relying on heavily sanctioned States such as Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for help with procuring arms. Iranian drones in Russian hands have killed civilians and caused vast economic damage across Ukraine. Russia is negotiating deals for huge quantities of weapons from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to be used against Ukraine. In turn, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea seeks military technology to bolster its own illegal weapons programme, further destabilizing the region. Those deals are a serious risk to international peace and security and violate multiple Council resolutions that Russia itself voted in favour of. The Russian Ambassador said that we had not proposed any solutions. We have — and I will do it again. To start with, Russia should end its illegal invasion and withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s sovereign territory. It is not complicated. It is what the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice have demanded. A just and lasting peace can be achieved through the broad principles set out by President Zelenskyy and based on the Charter. International support for his initiative is growing, and the United Kingdom is proud to support those efforts.

I thank Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, for his informative briefing. I want to reiterate all the points that my delegation made at the Security Council’s 12 September meeting on the same topic (see S/PV.9415) and at all the meetings that preceded it. In particular, I support the observations and recommendations of the Office for Disarmament Affairs regarding the risks posed by flows of weapons and ammunition and the measures needed to mitigate those risks. Today I would like to make two additional points that I consider relevant. My first point concerns the spread of inflammatory rhetoric, which could threaten international peace and security far beyond Ukraine. For instance, there has been a constant increase in harmful nuclear rhetoric since Russia began its invasion. That rhetoric has also been accompanied by substantive action, which has made the situation even more worrisome. In the context, Ecuador calls on all Member States to strengthen the international disarmament architecture by ratifying or acceding to the existing related treaties. Ecuador calls on the State signatories and parties to those treaties to refrain from weakening them, including in the case of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, whose entry into force we also urge for. My second key point has to do with what was discussed at the Council’s meeting held on Monday, 9 October, convened at the request of Ukraine in accordance with Articles 34 and 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, as a result of the attacks on Hroza in the Kharkiv region (see S/PV.9431). We reiterate our condemnation of those attacks and emphasize the role that anti-aircraft weapon systems can play in protecting civilian populations. Any transfer of weapons must be supported by the reasoning that it is for the protection of the civilian population and in defence of the country’s territorial integrity. Finally, my delegation joins others who expressed their concern this morning about the escalation of violence and conflicts around the world. In that regard, we urge the Russian Federation to stop its attacks on residential and densely populated areas and call on it to stop its invasion in order to give peaceful solutions, based on respect for territorial integrity and the other principles of the Charter, a chance.

At the outset, I would like to thank Mr. Adedeji Ebo, Deputy to the High Representative, for his briefing and for reminding us about the measures needed to address the risk of proliferation and diversion to unintended users associated with the transfer of conventional weapons. We share the concern about the matters raised by the Deputy to the High Representative, and we also thank the civil-society briefer, Mr. Nixon, for sharing his views with the Security Council. In September, when the Council met to deliberate on this topic, my delegation expressed its deep concern about the continuing aggression by the Russian Federation against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine (see S/PV.9415). We noted in particular the deterioration in the humanitarian situation and the effects of the war on peace and security worldwide. As we gather in the Chamber today, our concerns have only been heightened by the egregious acts being committed against the people of Ukraine. Civilians and civilian infrastructure continue to be attacked despite the clear prohibitions on such attacks under international humanitarian law. The missile attack on Hroza on 5 October is on record as being one of the deadliest attacks on civilians of the entire war, after it was established that it had wiped out a third of the village’s population. Other attacks reported in Kharkiv, among other areas, have resulted in the deaths of many, including children. After nearly 600 days of the brutal onslaught on Ukraine, it is clear to us that the use of force, aside from being outlawed by international law, is not the most strategic choice for advancing the individual or collective interests of States. We are firmly of the view that the conflict between the two countries can be resolved only through dialogue, not military means. Unfortunately, right now a commitment from the parties to resuming negotiations in good faith seems to be lacking, and actions such as those I mentioned make the chances for a peaceful resolution in the immediate term increasingly distant. The various conflicts raging across the world have put our international system and the Security Council, which is mandated to help promote international peace and security, under immense pressure. Urgent action is now required to prevent the conflict from escalating further and restore the conditions necessary for peaceful coexistence and mutual cooperation, as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations. We urge for intensifying diplomatic efforts to facilitate a credible process of dialogue between the parties and all other relevant stakeholders. In that respect, we encourage the regional bodies that are key actors of the European security architecture to reactivate their engagement. We remain firmly of the view that a just and lasting peace in Ukraine can be attained by placing at the centre of peace efforts the values and purposes of the Charter and fundamental principles of international law such as those relating to the use of force, the sovereign equality of States, territorial integrity, the non-recognition of forcibly acquired territory and criminal accountability. Finally, as we reiterate our call for the cessation of hostilities and the de-escalation of tensions, we urge the Russian Federation to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine.

I thank Mr. Ebo for the briefing. Just a few days ago, the Security Council held an urgent meeting on the horrible attack in Hroza, Ukraine, which killed at least 52 innocent people. Today, once more, and in a déjà vu scenario, Russia is calling for another meeting on the same subject that has been discussed so many times. Let us be clear, in the very same way that we have been in every meeting on this issue. While the issue is the weapons supply, the core issue is what one does with the weapons, and the difference could not be starker. Russia is using its weapons to kill the people of another country, in disregard of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Ukraine is using them for self-defence, on the basis of international law and the Charter. That is why Russia should be condemned, and Ukraine should be supported. Russia has initiated an unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, threatening European security, with an economic and humanitarian impact worldwide. We remain committed to supporting Ukraine politically, diplomatically, economically and militarily in its defence of its country, the Charter, peace and security in Europe and the international rules-based order. Article 51 of the Charter constitutes a clear legal basis for individual States to offer whatever assistance to a country exercising its inherent right to self-defence and defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We reiterate that the transfer of arms to Ukraine has been conducted in accordance with national legislation, the Arms Trade Treaty, the obligations arising from those instruments and the assessment of the risk of diversion. Instead — and here is another stark difference — Russia has been using Iranian drones, illegally transferred and in breach of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015). There are serious allegations that Russia is also being supplied with weapons and ammunition by another country under Security Council sanctions  — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Let us not forget that, while Russia is trying to divert attention to weapons supply to Ukraine, it is weaponizing food, energy, media and everything possible. To conclude, we reiterate our call on Russia to stop the war, withdraw its troops from Ukraine, respect that country’s territorial integrity and engage in dialogue in order to find a solution through negotiations.

I will now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Brazil. I thank Mr. Ebo for his important briefing and Mr. Nixon for sharing his views today. I welcome the delegation of Ukraine to this meeting. Our position is well known, and it has not changed since the last Council meeting on the issue, in September (see S/PV.9424). Brazil supports the inherent right of all Member States to self-defence in the event of an armed conflict, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. That obviously applies to Ukraine. However, massive transfers of arms and munitions to conflict zones pose serious, long-standing risks to peace and security. The introduction of increasingly more destructive weapons into this conflict and the inadmissible threat of use of nuclear weapons seriously undermine peace and security well beyond the battlefield and make peace even more elusive. Moreover, the extensive mining of land, including in the vicinity of populated areas, poses an enduring threat for civilians and has an impact on the use of agricultural land. Years after the suspension of hostilities, weapons used in conflicts may still affect civilians or be diverted to criminal or terrorist organizations, becoming a long- term factor of instability. We believe that those considerations should encourage a reflection on the current dynamics of the war in Ukraine. The continuation of the conflict comes at a heavy price, paid mostly by the civilian population  — today or for years to come. It is our responsibility as Council members to encourage de-escalation and the establishment of negotiations, either directly between the parties or through the good offices of neutral third parties or international institutions. Brazil supports efforts to prevent the diversion of arms and munitions and to increase the transparency and accountability of international transfers. We urge all Member States to adhere to the Arms Trade Treaty, uphold the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms and refrain from any transactions that may constitute a violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions. I resume my functions as President of the Council. I now give the floor to the representative of Ukraine.

I recognize the presence of Putin’s envoy in the permanent seat of the Soviet Union. On Monday, we drew the Council’s attention to the fact that he might add another hoax to the list of those related to weapons supplies, this time concerning alleged transfers to the Middle East  — and we were not mistaken. With its statement, Russia hit a new low. Actually, what can we expect from terrorists and liars who have already fed the Council fairy tales about biolabs, dirty bombs and war mosquitoes? As always, there is an absence of any credible evidence that has been hidden behind plenty of pieces of information randomly taken from the Internet or produced by Russian propaganda. It is regrettable and worthy of condemnation that the Russian delegation continues its puerile practice of retaliation against the Security Council’s consideration of the agenda item on the maintenance of international peace and security of Ukraine by duplicating meetings. It is a clear misuse of the Security Council toolbox. At the same time, those pathetic attempts attest to the catastrophic consequences that Ukraine’s resistance, underpinned by global solidarity, is having on Putin’s imperial plans and sentiments. That solidarity is critical for my country. At the same time, it is solidarity in defence of the Charter of the United Nations, whose principles are now being crash-tested in Ukraine. We reiterate our gratitude to all nations that have helped Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, in full conformity with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, and to save our people from extermination. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its brutal actions on the ground and statements by Putin and his accomplices prove those genocidal aspirations quite clearly, and we are appalled that Russia is using this Chamber as a platform to whitewash them. For instance, Putin’s envoy did so on Monday, when he labelled all victims of the mass murder in the village of Hroza, whose number amounted to 59, as top-ranked nationalists (see S/PV.9431). They were retirees, medical workers, farmers, teachers and entrepreneurs — most of them women — and included even an 8-year-old child. Despite how abhorrent and morally repugnant that attempt at a justification may sound to normal people, Putin’s envoy was honest in his claims. Indeed, all those who identify themselves as Ukrainians are nationalists in the Kremlin’s eyes and, as such, are subject to extermination. We have sufficient grounds to say that the gathering in Hroza was purposely targeted. That is evidenced by not only the indirect admission of Putin’s envoy at the previous meeting, but also by findings of the Security Service of Ukraine that two brothers with the last name Momon, once residents of Hroza and collaborators who fled to Russia, may be responsible for collecting information about the funeral reception and passing it along to the Russian military. Such mass murders completely fit Russia’s genocidal logic and plans to bring to Ukraine as much destruction and pain as possible. Even schools are considered by Russia as legitimate targets. Just this week two tragic incidents happened. On 10 October Russian terrorists shelled a school in Krasnopillya, Sumy region, killing a 13-year-old girl. On the next day, Russian missiles destroyed a college in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result, four people were killed. By targeting schools and killing children, Russia tries to deprive us of our future  — a future that we build together in the interest of all humankind, a future that is prosperous, safe, based on multilateralism and free from wars, poverty and hunger. Ukraine stands in defence of that vision of the future, and every success on the ground brings that vision closer to reality. For instance, strengthening our naval capacities has not only deterred the Russian Black Sea Fleet from approaching the Ukrainian shore, but has also enabled the unblocking of the grain exports by establishing temporary corridors for civilian vessels from and to Ukrainian ports. Putin speaks of his dreams about a Ukraine that has one week left to live if weapon supplies were terminated. On Monday my delegation quoted him saying that (see S/PV.9431). The truth is that he realizes that Ukraine is no longer his dream; it is his nightmare. He fears his imminent defeat in Ukraine, and that fear prompts him to instruct his army to be senselessly cruel and cling to the stolen lands at any cost. All nations fighting against terrorists, murderers and rapists should enjoy the support of the international community, including by actually providing them with weaponry rather than simply declare that they have a right to self-defence. I would therefore like to conclude my statement by reiterating our gratitude to all our friends for the solidarity that brings us closer to the end of the horror that Ukraine and Ukrainians have lived through — 597 days of a full-fledged war of aggression  — and to ensuring comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and security for the whole world.