S/PV.9647 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Latvia, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Ukraine to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Ms. Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I also invite His Excellency Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I give the floor to Ms Msuya. Ms. Msuya: Since we last briefed the Council, three weeks ago (see S/PV.9625), the civilian toll of attacks on Ukraine has continued to mount. Few parts of the country are spared from the hostilities, particularly in the east, north-east and south. But an escalation in fighting in the Kharkiv region since 10 May has had the heaviest impact. The Office for the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) reports that at least 174 civilians were killed and 690 were injured in May, the highest number of civilian casualties in a single month since June 2023. More than half of those casualties can be attributed to the fighting in Kharkiv. Shopping centres, homes, educational establishments, shops, office buildings, parks and public transport have all been struck in recent weeks. At least 18,100 people in the Kharkiv region have been newly displaced, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration. With support from around 50 humanitarian organizations, more than 12,000 people are receiving assistance at a transit centre in Kharkiv city. That includes food and water, clothes, bedding, household items, cash, psychosocial support and legal assistance. Civilians who remain in border and front-line areas in Kharkiv face dire conditions. Many are cut off from access to food, medical care, electricity and gas. Elderly people are disproportionately affected, because they are often unable or reluctant to leave their homes. In northern Kharkiv, where the fighting is heaviest, more than half of those killed or injured have been over the age of 60. In total, OHCHR has now verified the killing of at least 11,000 civilians and the injuring of more than 21,000 others across Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The actual toll is likely much higher. It is one year since the Kakhovka dam disaster, one of the most significant incidents affecting civilian infrastructure since the start of the full-scale invasion. The destruction of the dam unleashed monumental flooding, leaving large portions of the surrounding area under water. It destroyed homes, displaced families, ruined livelihoods and disrupted the water supply for millions of people. It showed just how extensive and long-lasting the humanitarian impacts of a single incident affecting critical infrastructure can be. That is why it is deeply concerning that systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure — a feature of this war since February 2022  — continue. Since 22 March 2024, the United Nations and its partners have identified six waves of such attacks across 15 regions, impacting health care and other social, payment and transport services and disrupting electricity, gas and water supplies for millions of households. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s preliminary estimates, based on available official data, the energy system in Ukraine is now down over 60 per cent of its pre-war generation capacity. That of course has severe consequences for the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. We note that strikes inside the Russian Federation in recent months, including in the Belgorod region, have also resulted in civilian casualties and damage to residential homes and other civilian infrastructure. We are also deeply concerned about the impact of attacks on Ukraine’s transportation and port infrastructure on global food security. In recent weeks, there have been worrisome indications of renewed upwards pressure on global grain prices, linked to the damage to infrastructure in Ukraine, among other factors. We reiterate that safe navigation throughout the Black Sea and the protection of ports and related civilian infrastructure must be ensured so that food exports can reach global markets predictably and efficiently. As we commemorated the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression on 4 June, let me also highlight the particular impact of this conflict on children. The physical, psychological and emotional harm on Ukrainian boys and girls has been immense. More than 600 Ukrainian children have now been killed, and 1,425 have been injured, since the escalation of the armed conflict. Children in front-line communities have spent between 3,000 and 5,000 hours in bomb shelters, which is the equivalent of four to seven months, causing immense stress and upheaval in their lives. Many have had their educations disrupted, further jeopardizing their futures. As with other vulnerable groups, children — and girls in particular  — have faced increased exposure to gender-based violence, domestic violence and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Unavailable or overwhelmed protection services means access to support is extremely limited. And 1 million children are among the close to 4 million people now internally displaced. Children also constitute a significant portion of the 6.5 million Ukrainian refugees recorded globally. The scale of humanitarian needs in Ukraine remains vast. More than 14.6 million people — about 40 per cent of the population — require some form of humanitarian assistance. Over half of them are women and girls. We are incredibly grateful to the donors that have so far provided $856 million in humanitarian funding, or 27 per cent of the $3.1 billion required under the 2024 humanitarian needs and response plan. That funding has enabled nearly 500 humanitarian organizations  — around 70 per cent of them national organizations, including local women-led organizations  — to provide assistance to more than 4 million people in the first four months of this year. That is despite the many challenges. Key among those challenges, as we have said repeatedly, remains the lack of humanitarian access to around 1.5 million civilians in areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya currently under the occupation of the Russian Federation. We must have rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need, in accordance with the requirements of international humanitarian law. And as the conflict continues to escalate and we look to kick-start preparations for another winter dominated by war, the full funding of the humanitarian response plan is urgently needed to sustain operations. I am compelled once again to recall that all parties must respect international humanitarian law, including by facilitating humanitarian relief for civilians in need and taking constant care to spare all civilians as well as civilian objects, including homes, schools, hospitals and other essential infrastructure. Those obligations bind all parties equally, without depending on reciprocity, wherever military operations are carried out, whether in Ukraine or the Russian Federation. I urge all States to exert their influence to ensure that the parties respect international humanitarian law. Well into the third year since the escalation of this war, it continues to rip apart civilian lives, homes and futures. Millions of people are facing another year, and potentially another winter, of suffering and deprivation. Many, particularly those in front-line communities, continue to rely on humanitarian aid to meet their most basic needs. The United Nations and its partners remain committed to supporting all those whose lives have been torn apart by this war. But the longer the violence and destruction continue, the greater the suffering will become and the bigger the task to rebuild shattered lives and communities. The long-term impact of this war will already be felt for many generations. We welcome the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held on 11 and 12 June in Berlin. It will be a key opportunity for donors, key partners and the United Nations to advance the Government’s recovery priorities and leverage financing for critical development in affected parts of the country. We continue to urge the Security Council and all Member States to do everything within their power to ensure respect for the rules of war, pursue peace and bring the suffering of the Ukrainian people to an end.

I thank Ms. Msuya for her briefing. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

I thank Ms. Joyce Msuya for her briefing. France requested this meeting as Russian strikes against Kharkiv and the region intensify. On 19 May, an air strike targeted a recreational area in the village of Cherkaska Lozova, killing six people and injuring at least 27. On 25 May, Russia targeted a shopping mall, in the middle of the day on a Saturday, causing dozens of civilian casualties, including children, and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure. Russia deliberately targets civilian infrastructure, whether housing, hospitals or power plants. Those strikes confirm what we have been observing for several months: after a first attack, Russia is resorting to secondary strikes, which specifically target emergency services and professionals working on the scene. The situation of internally displaced persons is alarming. The city of Kharkiv was already home to more than 200,000 displaced people. Russia’s new strikes on the region and the destruction they are causing have led people to flee. Humanitarian needs are increasing. More than 14,000 people have had to be evacuated since the launch of the Russian offensive in the region at the beginning of the May. Those are people who are already very vulnerable — the elderly and people with reduced mobility or disabilities — who were not able to flee earlier. Children are very affected; some have already been displaced several times and are suffering from severe psychological trauma. The Russian authorities continue to violate international humanitarian law. Indiscriminate strikes against civilian populations and targets constitute war crimes. France condemns those violations of international humanitarian law and reaffirms its support for the fight against impunity for their perpetrators. The humanitarian toll of this war of aggression continues to mount. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has determined that 10,500 civilians have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict, and the real number, as we are aware, is undoubtedly far higher. More than 4 million people, including 1 million children, have been displaced, and more than 17 million need humanitarian assistance, as has also been pointed out. Access to civilian populations in Russian-occupied territories is impossible. It is essential to provide full, safe and unimpeded access to all people in need of humanitarian assistance. After more than two years of aggression, Russia is wagering that the Ukrainian people will become exhausted and that those who support them will grow weary. That will not be the case. We continue to provide Ukraine with political, military and humanitarian support in order to help it exercise its right to legitimate defence. We continue to call upon Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, as the International Court of Justice demanded of it on 16 March 2022. We continue working to ensure compliance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which constitute the only basis for a just and lasting peace. While Russia deliberately targets the civilian population in Ukraine, Ukraine and the rest of the world have been acting to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of this tragedy. That critical issue will be discussed next week at the peace conference organized by Switzerland.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for her briefing. We also welcome the representatives of Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Sweden and Romania and the Head of the European Union delegation to this meeting. On 10 May, the Russian Federation launched an offensive against the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. The world witnessed the havoc and destruction that followed. Russia’s missiles have hit apartment buildings, shopping centres and book publishing facilities. Russia’s missiles pounded Kharkiv’s energy system, in a continuation of its practice of attacking civilian infrastructure. Those attacks have displaced more than 18,000 people from front-line communities. They have caused at least 400 civilian casualties. That includes the killing of a 12-year-old girl who was simply shopping for groceries with her mother. We greatly appreciate the international and humanitarian non-governmental organizations that supported the evacuations of thousands of people and that are providing evacuees with emergency assistance, including shelter, food, water and medical care. Those relentless attacks are reminders that Putin is not interested in peace. They also remind us of his commitment to an illegal war of conquest, with no regard for the staggering toll on his own people or on the people of Ukraine. Putin has no regard for Russia’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions, given the haggard, beaten and malnourished bodies of prisoners of war returned to Ukraine on 31 May, following the first prisoner swap in months. United Nations reports concluded that the majority of Ukrainian prisoners of war are subject to routine medical neglect, torture and other ill-treatment in detention. That includes mock executions, electric charges to ears and genitals, beatings and sexual violence, including rape. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment concluded that torture and other inhumane acts perpetrated against prisoners of war and civilians appear to be orchestrated as part of State policy. Russia also continues to deny international monitors and humanitarian organizations access to the Ukrainian territory that it occupies and to facilities in Russia holding prisoners of war and Ukrainian civilians. Russian armed forces and affiliated groups were listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s 2023 annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2023/363), which asserts that they are responsible for, among other things, killing and maiming children. And Russia continues its forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, as part of a systematic campaign to strip the most vulnerable victims of this war of their Ukrainian identity. Vulnerable children were taken from Ukrainian caregivers and relocated to Russia. In many instances, those children were provided with Russian names and passports and adopted by Russians. Those transfers are not humanitarian in nature. They may amount to war crimes. The forcible changing of names and nationality is a blatant violation of international law. The evidence of Russia’s war crimes is well- documented, staggering and mounting every day. Nevertheless, Ukraine continues to develop a formula for a just and durable peace that is in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The international community’s participation in the upcoming summit on peace in Ukraine, to be hosted by Switzerland, will be crucial in supporting our shared objective  — the maintenance of international peace and security. We call on all countries to support Ukraine’s pursuit of a just and lasting peace, consistent with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations. We regret that Russia has shown no support or readiness for good-faith negotiations or engagement on a durable peace. We hope that that will change, allowing for a successful second summit with Russia’s participation. The United States will stand by Ukraine as it seeks a just and lasting peace, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations. We will continue to call for justice for the victims of this war of aggression and to work for accountability for those responsible.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Joyce Msuya for her briefing. We note with growing concern the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine, with more than 14 million people now needing humanitarian assistance. Each time the Council meets to discuss Ukraine, we hear of a worsening situation. As shelling in Kharkiv and other cities and towns continues, the prospects seem grim. We continue to receive reports of the growing number of civilian casualties, including women and children, and of the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure across the country. Targeted attacks on energy infrastructure plunge entire communities into darkness and disrupt the flow of vital services to hundreds of thousands of people. Meanwhile, continuous attacks on schools and medical facilities seriously disrupt essential health care and education and will have far-reaching consequences. Guyana deplores the continued loss of civilian lives in this war. We reiterate our demand for full respect for international humanitarian law and the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality. We also continue to urge that greater efforts be made to ensure full protection and unhindered access for humanitarian actors, including to the occupied territories of Ukraine. The attacks on critical infrastructure must stop. Beyond its immediate humanitarian impacts, this war has other long-term impacts. The World Health Organization says that nearly 10 million people are at risk of suffering from mental disorders. Many are already experiencing moderate to severe symptoms. Children continue to pay a particularly high price in this war, as Ms. Msuya reminded us — 1.5 million children are in urgent need of support to cope with stress, anxiety and other mental health challenges. Those are further exacerbated by disruption to their education. Guyana reiterates its call for an immediate end to the attacks on infrastructure critical for children’s well-being, including schools, hospitals, and energy, water and sanitation systems. We also repeat our call for continued support for the victims of the war, inclusive of medical, psychological and legal support, with particular attention to children and survivors of sexual violence. We commend the United Nations agencies, bilateral partners and international, regional and local organizations working around the clock to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people. We also call for the scaling up of humanitarian assistance. In closing, Guyana continues to stress the urgency of resolving this conflict peacefully and will support all efforts to that end. We again call on the Russian Federation to withdraw its military forces from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, and we urge the parties to commit to a serious political and diplomatic process to end this conflict peacefully.

I thank Assistant Secretary- General Msuya for her important briefing. For more than two years, the Russian Federation has been persisting in its war of aggression against Ukraine. The scale of the humanitarian consequences caused by this war is hard to comprehend. It has displaced millions, many of whom continue to seek refuge. Also, it has left 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. The plight of thousands of Ukrainians has grown more desperate since Russian forces launched a new offensive in Kharkiv and its region these past weeks. Numerous waves of withering attacks have caused the death and injury of civilians, including many children, and damage to civilian infrastructure. More people have been displaced as a result of those attacks. This week, authorities report that more than 12,000 civilians from the Kharkiv region are fleeing their homes owing to those attacks. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 90 children have been killed and more than 320 injured in the region alone since the start of Russia’s war. Last week, Russian forces struck several of Ukraine’s energy facilities with missiles and drones. Those air assaults targeted facilities in cities across the entire country  — far away from the front lines, including some facilities located near the borders with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Malta strongly condemns Russia’s shelling campaign aimed at destroying energy facilities in Ukraine. Every missile strike has left some form of devastation across Ukraine. Even if Russia decides to end its war today, in many places, men, women and children have nothing to go back to. Malta urges the parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and to protect all civilians and civilian objects, including homes, schools, hospitals, grain houses and other essential infrastructure. The intensification in the hostilities continues to disrupt humanitarian operations across Ukraine, affecting relief efforts. Additionally, Russia’s bombardments have resulted in casualties of rescuers — the very lives of those trying to save lives. Since February 2022, the World Health Organization has verified 1,808 attacks on health care. That is unacceptable. Malta reiterates that there must be no impunity for those crimes. The perpetrators of these actions must be held to account for the damage caused. We express our full support for the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine and for the register of damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Forced displacement has exposed the most vulnerable, especially children, to various protection risks, such as exploitation, abuse, violence and separation from their families. That has led to severe stress and psychological trauma. Women and girls are also being affected disproportionately, exposed as they are to rural food insecurity and gender-based violence. That important topic will be discussed at the summit on peace in Ukraine, to be held in Switzerland later this month. We fully support the summit and the efforts aimed at a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine based on international law and the Charter of the United Nations. In closing, Malta calls upon Russia once again to unconditionally and completely withdraw all its forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

At the outset, I wish to convey my thanks to Assistant Secretary-General Joyce Msuya for her briefing. Algeria expresses deep concern over the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation induced by the military operations in Russia and Ukraine. Civilians continue to bear the heavy toll of these operations, namely, the massive loss of civilian lives and the dire humanitarian situation. The destruction of critical civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, both in Ukraine and in Russia, remains a source of deep concern. While we are describing an alarming situation, we have yet to see any prospect of de-escalation. Recent developments point to a completely different trend. Against that backdrop, Algeria is of the view that the following elements need to be addressed. First, it is essential to give primacy to diplomatic endeavours aimed at addressing in an inclusive manner the dire humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In order for that to be achieved, all parties have to choose the path of de-escalation and compliance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including international humanitarian law. Secondly, the logic of confrontation cannot be sustained and must cede to restraint, dialogue and negotiations guided by the principles of inclusiveness and the peaceful settlement of disputes. In that very spirit, Algeria supported the initiative of the League of Arab States by being part of the Arab contact group, which met with the two parties at an early stage of the conflict as part of good offices efforts, and called upon the international community to refrain from any action likely to obstruct the negotiations and prolong the crisis. Algeria reiterates its commitment to back any peace effort aimed at laying the foundation for a steady and peaceful solution to this crisis. Thirdly, the continued polarization of this crisis is a source of serious concern for Algeria, as it contributes to prolonging the crisis and heightens the risk of escalation, with adverse repercussions on international peace and security, in addition to socioeconomic consequences, including in terms of food and energy security. Despite the gloomy picture we are getting from the ground, Algeria prefers to cling to the hope of peace. There is a need to identify all ways and means of putting an inclusive and fair peace process on track. Algeria still believes that multilateralism can deliver, and it calls for the intensification of international diplomatic efforts to resolve this crisis, thereby avoiding the collapse of diplomatic norms and reaching a peaceful settlement based on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the legitimate security concerns of all parties.

We thank Assistant Secretary-General Joyce Msuya for her invaluable insights. We also welcome the representative of Ukraine in this meeting. As the prospects for a mutually accepted solution remain elusive and the positions of the conflicting parties remain entrenched, the humanitarian fallout continues to escalate, as we heard from Assistant Secretary-General Msuya. Civilian deaths and injuries, a high number of refugees and internally displaced persons, and the targeted destruction and damage of critical civilian infrastructure remain persistent features of this unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Given the lack of respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law, such respect is at risk of becoming yet another casualty of this conflict. In the recently concluded open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict (see S/PV.9632), held under our presidency and marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and the twenty- fifth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1265 (1999), we collectively issued a clear and urgent appeal for a renewed commitment to strengthening the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The selective application of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by warring parties and the multidimensional impact on civilians, who are being killed and maimed at an alarming rate, cannot be condoned. The use of explosive weapons in populated areas  — the leading cause of civilian casualties in recent conflicts — must be scrupulously avoided, as must the impediment to the delivery of humanitarian aid. Against that backdrop, our position on the humanitarian dimension of that and other conflicts remains consistent and unchanged. First, the protection of civilians is the cornerstone of international humanitarian law. Therefore, we call on all parties to ensure civilian safety and fulfil their obligations. Secondly, the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality, as mentioned earlier, must be scrupulously adhered to and upheld by all parties. Proportionality requires an assessment of whether civilian harm is likely to be excessive compared to the concrete military advantage anticipated. Thirdly, all parties must facilitate full, safe, rapid and unhindered access for humanitarian personnel and relief to civilians in need. All those are core aspects of resolution 2730 (2024), which was recently adopted by the Council. Therefore, we appeal to donors for a generous response to the humanitarian response plans of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for this and other conflicts. Flexible, predictable, sufficient and timely funding are crucial to guarantee the delivery of critical support and services, in particular for women, children and other vulnerable groups that are bearing the brunt of conflicts. Ultimately, ending this conflict is the most secure path towards addressing its human-made humanitarian consequences. In order to achieve that, we urge the parties to cease hostilities without delay, resume direct negotiations without preconditions and engage in dialogue in good faith. In our humble opinion, that is the most appropriate way to end this conflict and lay the foundations for lasting and sustainable peace between the two countries.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for her briefing. China is deeply concerned by the prolonged fighting in Ukraine, the increasingly dire humanitarian situation and the persistent spillover risks. We urge the parties to the conflict to act with rationality and restraint, in strict compliance with international humanitarian law, and to refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure. We also call on the parties to resume dialogue and engagement immediately, to achieve a ceasefire and to put an end to the fighting. China did not create the Ukraine crisis, nor have we had any part in it. Since the outbreak of the conflict, China has consistently advocated for peace talks and negotiations, actively pursuing a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis. Recently, Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi met with the visiting Chief Adviser to the Brazilian President, Mr. Celso Amorim, in Beijing. That was followed by the joint release of a six-point common understanding on the Ukraine crisis, emphasizing that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis and calling on all relevant parties to work jointly for the de-escalation of the situation. All relevant parties are also called on to, inter alia, increase humanitarian assistance, oppose the use of nuclear weapons, oppose attacks on nuclear power plants and protect the stability of global industrial and supply chains. The First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine just concluded his visit to China. The two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine issue. China briefed Ukraine in detail on the six-point common understanding. We believe that the six-point common understanding reflects the shared expectations of the majority of countries and represents the greatest possible common factor at the international level on the ongoing Ukraine crisis. We would welcome more countries supporting and endorsing the six-point common understanding, so as to gradually build up positive momentum towards a political settlement and create a brighter prospect for peace. In any conflict or confrontation, no one emerges triumphant. Military means cannot produce lasting peace. China supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Going forward, we will continue to be objective and impartial, bring the parties to the negotiating table, stay in contact with all parties concerned and work tirelessly for a political solution to the crisis.

I begin by thanking Ms. Msuya for her detailed and informative briefing and by acknowledging the presence of the representative of Ukraine here this morning. Unfortunately — and as was to be expected — since our last meeting on this topic (see S/PV.9625), the humanitarian situation in Ukraine has continued to deteriorate. Recent attacks in the Kharkiv region and other areas have caused numerous civilian casualties, including of children, and have destroyed homes and civil infrastructure. The attacks have also caused massive displacement, and thousands of people have reportedly been left without access to such basic necessities as food, medical care, electricity and gas. Ecuador regrets that the civilian population continues to suffer. Attacks on private property and civilian objects, in particular homes, schools, hospitals and other essential structures, are unacceptable and must cease immediately. The protection of civilians and the preservation of civilian objects are obligations under international humanitarian law and must therefore be strictly complied with by all parties to conflict. Ecuador salutes the efforts of the United Nations and its humanitarian partners, which continue to provide vital assistance to those affected, in spite of the risks. Allowing unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance and ensuring full capacity for humanitarian organizations to enable them to use funding and hire staff as needed to carry out their work are matters of utmost priority. In that context, I stress the importance of resolution 2730 (2024), which reaffirms the need to protect humanitarian personnel and ensure unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. Mr. Martin Griffiths was clear and forceful in his analysis of the global situation during his last press conference as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, when he emphasized that “We are not using dialogue where we had committed ourselves to using dialogue. And the founders of the United Nations back in 1945... we are failing them”. But I would like to end by echoing the observation made by Mr. Griffiths, who leaves an indelible mark for his unwavering work in advocating for humanitarian assistance in crisis contexts, when he said that “the humanitarians are doing a great job, heroically, in the field, scraping together support where they can, but they are not the saviours — the saviours of this world are people who end wars and build peace”. I therefore make this observation as an urgent call to action for all of us.

I wish to thank Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ms. Msuya for her briefing, and to make a couple of points on behalf of my delegation. First, Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukrainian critical energy infrastructure represent the latest in a series of flagrant violations of international humanitarian law by Russia. In the city of Kharkiv, practically all power generation capabilities were destroyed, as was most of the transmission infrastructure connecting the city with the rest of the Ukrainian power system. The situation throughout the country presents a great challenge for the summer months and is almost insurmountable for the coming winter months. Targeting critical energy infrastructure has zero military value. Its only goal is bombing the Ukrainian population into submission. Slovenia condemns attacks against energy generation and transmission infrastructure in the strongest possible terms. Secondly, with regard to the rising numbers of internally displaced persons, an estimated 3.7 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine. That number surged in May, when Russia opened another front in the Kharkiv region. Almost 20,000 people fled from the areas of active fighting to the city of Kharkiv, only to be exposed to further Russian aerial attacks on the city itself. As Assistant Secretary-General Msuya reported earlier this morning, boys and girls in front- line regions have spent the equivalent of seven months underground. That is no way to spend a childhood. The attacks on infrastructure that provides essential services for the civilian population must end. A shopping centre and a printing house are not military targets. Fifty civilian casualties in one day are not collateral damage. It is time for those so-called highly precise Russian strikes to end. It is time for all the attacks to end and for Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine. Thirdly, with regard to prospects for peace, Slovenia fully supports the peace summit that will be held in Switzerland in a couple of days and will be represented at it at the highest level. We call on all Member States to attend it and make it a first meaningful step towards peace. Ukraine and its people desperately need peace. The wider region needs peace too, and this is a first step in the right direction. Dame Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom): I would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for her very informative briefing. We cannot repeat it often enough — as we speak, Russia, which uses its seat on the Council to opine and sit in judgment on other countries on the Council’s agenda, is bombing Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, with no regard for civilian life, in an illegal war of aggression and in defiance of the Charter of the United Nations. I would like to make three specific points in that regard. First, we should look at the facts. The Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, the largest in Ukraine, was severely damaged in a targeted attack by Russia and can no longer produce electricity. A breach of the dam would have had even more severe humanitarian consequences. The Council should categorically reject Russia’s deliberate and illegal assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Secondly, Russia’s opening of a new front in north- eastern Ukraine has exacerbated an already desperate humanitarian situation. Between 10 and 28 May, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine verified that 45 civilians were killed and 189 injured in the Kharkiv region and city, including in a devastating attack on a civilian shopping centre on 25 May. Many thousands have been evacuated, and the International Organization for Migration estimates that the total number of internally displaced pople is approximately 3.5 million. The United Kingdom echoes Ms. Denise Brown, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, who has condemned the repeated attacks on Kharkiv and Kharkiv oblast. As she has said, those fleeing their homes have suffered a new trauma in Kharkiv after arriving there in search of safety. Moreover, as Ms. Msuya reminded us, this has an especially damaging impact on children in those areas. We should not tolerate a situation in which children are having to grow up under constant bombardment from Russian missiles, drones and shells. Thirdly, we commend the bravery of the humanitarian partners on the ground responding to the intensified attacks in the north by supporting evacuations from villages, meeting emergency needs and improving preparedness measures for future strikes. The United Kingdom has committed more than $456 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the region, and we urge other Member States to continue their support for an appeal that is still only 28 per cent funded, according to the latest assessment by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Russia alone has the ability to address this suffering, and we therefore echo the calls that we have heard from every other member of the Council. Russia must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and cease targeting infrastructure that serves the essential needs of Ukraine’s population. And we call on Russia to withdraw from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.

It has long been a secret to no one that Western delegations have been convening Security Council meetings on Ukraine as a box-ticking exercise on their monthly schedule and determining the roles that each of them will play in advance. There can be no doubt that in reality they could not care less about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine or the suffering of civilians there, and even less about the suffering of civilians in Russia’s border territories. In essence, they could not care less about humanitarian suffering practically anywhere in the world, because in the final analysis the United States and the countries of Europe are fighting not for Ukraine but for their so-called leadership and geopolitical ambitions. A stark example of that is the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. How many open meetings on the issue have been initiated by Western delegations? And yet the death toll long ago surpassed 30,000. But for our Western colleagues, who are concerned solely about their domestic political situations, the fact that Gaza is being wiped off the face of the Earth continues to be an extremely inconvenient topic. Such double standards are shameful. Another confirmation of Western countries’ egregious hypocrisy is that they are paying lip service in deploring the humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine at the same time that their capitals have deliberately escalated the situation by continuing to allocate billions of dollars for weapons while recently giving their underlings in Kyiv carte blanche to use NATO weapons against our country’s territory. What is also utterly false is Western countries’ declarations about their desire for a peaceful and sustainable settlement of the conflict. What they are proposing to resolve it is not a formula for peace but rather one for war and bloodshed. It is essentially a primitive attempt to present Russia with an ultimatum, and the conference being convened at Bürgenstock in Switzerland to promote that formula is nothing more than a propagandistic get-together with zero added value. It is clear to a growing number of members of the international community that any discussion of issues related to Russia’s sovereignty and security is futile if it happens without representatives from Russia and without taking its interests into account. The West’s pseudo-peacemakers organizing yet another anti-Russian gathering already discredited their efforts long ago. In February 2014 it was they who initially appeared to be guaranteeing a political settlement between the Ukrainian Government and the Maidan opposition, only to support a coup the very next morning. The Minsk agreements were signed in 2015, a year after the start of Kyiv’s brutal war on the residents of Donbas. But there too, as it later emerged, not only were the Western guarantors of the agreements not intending to urge Kyiv to implement them, they openly admitted that they had signed the package of measures merely in order to arm Ukraine and push it to embark on a new war on Russia. Yet another opportunity for a peaceful solution was missed in 2022. The agreement that the delegations in Istanbul initialled, outlining the contours of peaceful coexistence that were generally acceptable to both sides, was simply scrapped after the arrival in Kyiv of former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Why did he do that? Why are the United States and other countries sending more and more weapons to Ukraine? Is it because they are concerned about the plight of its civilians? No. Instead of hopes for peace, Kyiv has been tasked with putting the country’s population on the battlefield for the sake of its Western sponsors’ geopolitical interests, and that aim is being systematically met. The Ukrainian army is losing thousands dead and wounded every month, and in the country’s current violent and forced total mobilization drive, new and ever younger units of untrained Ukrainian lads are being sent to the slaughter. It is no secret that it is the United States Administration above all that is insisting on lowering the conscription age, with the plan being to reduce it from 25 to 18 within the year. As far as Washington is concerned the lives of Ukraine’s younger generations are entirely expendable. Representatives of the United States establishment have talked about that often, saying openly that the policy safeguards the lives of Western soldiers and is more advantageous to the West in general since it adds to the profits of its military-industrial complex. The Ukrainians who refuse to fight and die for the interests of the Zelenskyy regime’s sponsors are increasingly aware of that, as many posts on social networks testify. At the moment the Kyiv authorities are planning to mobilize another 110,000 to 120,000 more people by the end of the year. Men of conscription age are being rounded up almost everywhere, and as of 1 June men eligible for military service are totally banned from leaving Ukrainian territory. As the situation on the front lines shows, none of those steps are helping the country to escape the inevitable. Russia’s armed forces have continued to methodically destroy the Kyiv regime’s fighting capability, which already consists almost entirely of Western weaponry. Kyiv has lost control of 28 towns and villages in the past month of May alone. Against a backdrop of huge military failures, the Kyiv regime has been attempting to get out of trouble by taking the cowardly route of targeting Russian civilian areas, firing on them with various types of NATO weapons. If we consider statistics for the past year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been firing approximately 2,000 shells at civilian targets every week. An average of 100 civilians are killed or wounded every week, and often many more. Since May 2022 Ukraine’s forces have been systematically intensifying its strikes against civilian objects in Belgorod oblast. There have been 9,000 such incidents, killing 190 civilians, including 15 children, as well as 900 injured, 83 of them children. The shelling reached a peak between December 2023 and June 2024. A cynical crime was perpetrated in Belgorod over the New Year holiday with a strike targeting the city centre. Twenty-five people died in the tragedy, four of them children, including two entire families. As a result of a combined strike using Czech Vampire and Vilkha multiple rocket launch systems and six Tochka-U missiles, part of a Belgorod apartment building was destroyed on 12 May. Fifteen people died, including two children. All of that merited just one line in Ms. Msuya’s statement, and there was not a word about it in the Western delegations’ statements, let alone about the thousands of ordinary people who have died in Donbas since Ukraine unleashed its war in 2014. Today we again had news of a strike in Luhansk by five American ATACMS missiles, once again targeting apartment buildings and civilian objects. Three people died. Those attacks are clearly acts of terrorism, with no military expediency of any kind. There has been a significant increase in the use of anti-personnel and cluster munitions, which do maximum damage to civilian populations in particular. Ukrainian soldiers are systematically targeting emergency service personnel and medics by hitting the same spots again once rescue teams arrive. The sole purpose of all of this is to create a humanitarian crisis in the region, instil fear in people and make civilians’ lives unbearable, Do the Western members of the Council not want to discuss those criminal acts of the Kyiv authorities? Of course, the Western States are not worried about the lives of Russians, but neither we nor Russia’s armed forces intend to be reconciled to that. However, today we heard yet more Western fabrications about “evil Russians’” weaponization of hunger and cold, their deliberate destruction of schools and hospitals and their violence, including towards children. Today the United States representative spoke as if he was knowledgeable about violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war, not because it was true but because the United States understands very well what it is to torture prisoners of war. It demonstrated that clearly to the international community in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Afghanistan. But then that delegation has never had a problem telling endless lies. At the same time, Western donors hasten to report on the humanitarian assistance delivered to suffering civilians and stigmatize the Russian Federation for its refusal to give biased, pseudo human rights and humanitarian non-governmental organizations access to our territory. Something that the Western countries prefer to remain silent about is the uncomfortable issue of the regular theft and looting of humanitarian cargo. In a recent example, the Ukrainian mayor of the city of Zaporizhzhya expropriated 22 shipping containers, 389 railway cars and 220 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Europe, in yet another testament to the staggering levels of corruption in the Kyiv regime. The record pace of humanitarian and socioeconomic recovery in the new Russian constituent territories is also a very awkward subject for the initiators of today’s discussion. Our citizens in the regions reunited with Russia are seeing the conditions for a dignified future being actively established. Social infrastructure is being modernized with unprecedented speed as more than 2,000 social facilities have been rebuilt and refurbished, including two major higher education institutions, schools, kindergartens, health clinics and cultural and sporting venues. Mine clearance efforts are ongoing. Since March 2022 the populations of the liberated areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and Zaporizhzhya and Kherson oblasts have received 158,000 tons of food and basic necessities, and more than 4,000 humanitarian initiatives have been carried out. Russia will continue to fulfil its humanitarian obligations to its new citizens, regardless of the lies and disinformation being spread by our foes in meetings such as this one. In conclusion, we would like to say that the main problem and threat to international peace and security continues to be the focus of the United States and the European countries that support it on continuing the conflict in Ukraine at any cost with the aim of weakening Russia. The recent statements announcing that Western weapons can be used without restrictions on the territory of our country — and about sending ever increasing numbers of instructors and even military units to Ukraine — are all of a piece with that highly dangerous course of action. The consequences of those reckless actions absolutely must be discussed in the Security Council, which we propose to do on 14 June.

I thank Ms. Msuya for her valuable briefing. Just over three weeks ago, the Council was convened to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine (see S/PV.9625), focusing on the ongoing attacks on energy-related facilities across the country. Today, we have come together once again to confront the grim reality caused by the escalating attacks in the Kharkiv region. It is deeply regrettable that, in today’s briefing, we were reminded of the numerous and increasing civilian casualties resulting from the clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations by a permanent member of the Security Council. Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has led to the deaths and injuries of countless innocents, and it continues to worsen the humanitarian crisis on the ground. Japan expresses its deepest regret over the necessity to repeatedly condemn actions, such as the recent attack on a residential area in Kharkiv that resulted in civilian casualties and hindered rescue efforts. Local authorities reported that more than 11,000 people were evacuated from the Kharkiv region, owing to intense fighting. Escalating hostilities continue to devastate people’s daily lives and obstruct essential humanitarian efforts. Since 2022, almost 90 children have lost their lives, and more than 320 have been injured in the Kharkiv region alone. It is deplorable that that is just a minuscule proportion of the total number of child victims all over Ukraine. We must never forget the child abductions by Russia as well. Japan is deeply distressed by Russia’s continuous disregard for international law, including international humanitarian law. Attacks against civilians and civilian objects are clearly prohibited by international humanitarian law. The international community will not tolerate impunity for those responsible, and the perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law and of all other heinous acts must be identified and held accountable. Japan also calls for the protection of humanitarian personnel and reiterates the need to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Ukraine. Furthermore, Japan condemns in the strongest possible terms North Korea’s export and Russia’s procurement of ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of those missiles against Ukraine. The transfer of those weapons is a clear violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, supports Russia’s war of aggression and increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people. We continue to closely monitor what North Korea gains in return. Since the aggression began, Japan has provided Ukraine with more than $12 billion, encompassing humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction assistance. Japan will steadfastly and seamlessly support Ukraine’s economic development, from emergency assistance and the restoration of daily livelihoods to the more advanced stages of industrial rebuilding. We will continue to partner with Ukraine in its efforts to rebuild lives and create new industries, aimed at establishing a strong economic foundation for sustainable recovery and a robust overall economy. Once again, we reiterate our clear position and urge Russia to cease its aggression and immediately and unconditionally withdraw from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. Japan continues to stand with the people of Ukraine and to uphold the Charter of the United Nations.

I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this briefing. Let me also thank Ms. Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, for her valuable briefing. I welcome the participation of the representative of Ukraine in this meeting. Sierra Leone is deeply concerned about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly in the city of Kharkiv and its surrounding region, which has been severely affected by the recent escalation in hostilities, with the potential for further deterioration if the hostilities persist. We note with concern the recent attacks on civilian infrastructure, which have caused significant casualties and displacement. Residential areas, shopping centres and other vital facilities have been targeted, leading to a considerable loss of life and the widespread destruction of homes and essential services and posing a severe threat to the safety and well- being of the affected population. A most recent example is the reported strike on the Epicentr K hypermarket in Kharkiv, resulting in numerous fatalities and injuries, including of civilians engaged in their daily activities. The ongoing aerial attacks and shelling on energy and critical infrastructure hinder the delivery of aid and the rebuilding of essential infrastructure and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. The energy supply challenges, particularly as we approach the colder months, further threaten the well-being of the affected populations, underscoring the need for a sustained and flexible humanitarian response and a cessation of hostilities. The human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has verified that, since the intensification of hostilities in early May, there have been 45 civilian deaths and 189 injuries in the Kharkiv region alone. Those recent figures bring the total number of documented civilian casualties to 32,231, including at least 10,911 deaths; however, it should be noted that the real figures are likely to be considerably higher. UNICEF confirmed, on 13 May, that nearly 2,000 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the start of the conflict in February 2022, highlighting that the number of child fatalities this year has increased by almost 40 per cent compared to 2023. The International Organization for Migration has further reported that more than 17,300 individuals have been compelled to flee their homes with minimal belongings. People who fled the areas along the Kharkiv region front line described having to shelter for days in cold, dark basements, with no electricity amid intense aerial bombardment, strikes by drones and missiles, and artillery shelling. The vulnerability of those displaced persons, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities, cannot be overstated. We note with alarm the reports of acute stress among the displaced populations, particularly those who have endured multiple displacements. Furthermore, and according to the situation report of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), roughly 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population is in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. That underscores the severe impact of the conflict on the local population and the urgent need for increased humanitarian assistance. In that regard, Sierra Leone acknowledges the commendable efforts of the Ukrainian authorities to establish transit centres and provide relief to those affected, in collaboration with volunteers and international humanitarian organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners. Sierra Leone emphasizes the vital importance of adhering to international law and, in particular international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. The protection of civilian lives must be paramount — in any conflict and in the Ukraine conflict. Ensuring that the parties to the conflict maintain the safety of civilians must be the utmost collective priority of the Council. We commend the ongoing coordination efforts led by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator and facilitated by OCHA. Those efforts are crucial in enhancing the preparedness and response capacity of humanitarian clusters and agencies. In that regard, we also emphasize the critical importance of sustained and flexible funding for humanitarian and recovery programmes in Ukraine. We call for increased donor support in order to ensure that humanitarian operations are adequately funded. UNHCR highlights that the current funding levels are insufficient to meet the escalating needs, particularly as we approach winter, a season that will intensify the hardships faced by those without stable homes or access to reliable energy supplies. It is also important that the civilian populations be provided with robust psychological support. We stress the need for continued collaboration and support from the international community to address the multifaceted needs of the displaced and affected populations. Let me close by reiterating Sierra Leone’s commitment to supporting international efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, as we stand ready to work collaboratively with all involved parties and populations to alleviate the suffering of the affected civilian population. We call on the international community to demonstrate solidarity and unity in providing the necessary assistance and resources to respond effectively to the urgent humanitarian needs. As we look ahead, it is imperative that all parties involved prioritize the protection of civilians, respect for international humanitarian law and the facilitation of humanitarian access to ensure the delivery of life-saving assistance to those in need. Finally, Sierra Leone calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities; for respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders; and for constructive and inclusive diplomatic efforts in order to achieve a peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict, taking into account the legitimate concerns of all parties involved. In a conflict situation, peace is negotiated not with friends, but rather with the parties to the conflict.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya for her statement. The consequences of the high intensity of Russian attacks are being felt throughout Ukraine. Switzerland is deeply troubled by the daily news reports from various regions where human lives are being shattered and humanitarian needs are worsening. Those attacks must stop. We are particularly concerned by the escalation of attacks in Kharkiv  — the consequences of which Ms. Msuya just outlined  — including the strike on 25 May, which destroyed a crowded shopping mall in the middle of the day. Our thoughts are with the relatives of the 19 people killed, and we wish a speedy recovery to the approximately 50 people injured. Since the Council most recently discussed the humanitarian situation in Ukraine (see S/PV.9625), the number of civilian casualties has continued to grow, as has the damage to civilian infrastructure, including energy infrastructure. We condemn the indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. International humanitarian law is unequivocal: all parties must respect its rules in all circumstances, including those rules relating to the conduct of hostilities, and ensure the protection of the civilian population. In particular, civilians and civilian objects must not be targets. As the attacks intensify, more and more people are fleeing to save their lives. Last month, thousands of people, including older persons and persons with disabilities, were forced to evacuate the Kharkiv region. One of the women who fled recalled that “leaving everything behind, knowing my friends and family are still there, is truly the hardest thing”. For some of them, it is a recurring and all too familiar nightmare: in the first few months of the Russian military aggression in 2022, almost one third of all internally displaced people fled from the Kharkiv region, according to the International Organization for Migration. Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to the humanitarian partners who are helping displaced persons and civilians affected by the fighting under difficult conditions, often at the risk of their own safety. We reiterate the obligation under international law to protect humanitarian and United Nations personnel, including national and local staff. The Council reaffirmed that obligation in resolution 2730 (2024) last month. I also recall the obligation to authorize and facilitate full, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need throughout Ukraine, including in territories under Russian military control. Despite the worrisome situation, I would like to highlight two positive developments. First, an exchange of prisoners of war took place at the end of May  — the first exchange in almost four months. Secondly, we welcome the reunification of Ukrainian children with their families. Those examples remind us that even in the most difficult situations, diplomatic and humanitarian action can lead to agreements and tangible improvements for the civilian population. The longer the war goes on, the more insistent and urgent the calls for peaceful solutions become. The realities on the ground remind us that more diplomacy is needed to build peace. As Member States, we have the primary responsibility for those in need of protection. With the summit on peace in Ukraine, Switzerland wishes to make its contribution. The aims of the summit are to strengthen a common understanding for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace; to provide a platform for high-level discussions and to initiate a peace process. The summit is not anti-Russia; its purpose is to offer a platform for a wide range of countries to express their viewpoints and proposals on how to move forward in order to help lay the groundwork for future peace talks between the parties. We are counting on the support of participants from all regions of the world in order to take a step towards a future peace process, in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the Republic of Korea. I thank Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for her timely briefing. At the outset, my delegation expresses its deep concerns over the aggravating humanitarian consequences of the prolonged war in Ukraine. We call for the sustained attention and actions of the international community on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, despite other conflicts and crises unfolding around the globe. This is not the time for fatigue. My delegation deeply regrets that Russia has recently continued, and is even expanding, its brutal attacks against Ukraine on all fronts, particularly in Ukraine’s north-eastern borders near Kharkiv. Russia’s merciless attacks have targeted a large shopping centre, residential areas and a print facility, causing dozens of civilian casualties and internally displacing some 20,000 people in the Kharkiv region over the past month alone. The international community has raised grave concerns about limited humanitarian access to Russian- controlled areas in Donbas. Additionally, if the front in Kharkiv remains active and control over surrounding towns changes hands frequently, that will create more blind spots for humanitarian operations. And every day, that aggravates the already extremely serious situation of internally displaced persons and refugees, whose number currently stands at 10 million  — or 25 per cent of Ukraine’s total population. According to the 2024 Ukraine humanitarian needs and response plan of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the situation along the expanding front lines is catastrophic, with civilians suffering from a lack of health care, food and access to financial resources. We highly appreciate the efforts of humanitarian workers on the ground and are especially moved by the dedicated service of volunteers, including their assistance with the evacuation of civilians from the Kharkiv region. Recalling that resolution 2730 (2024) was adopted last month, I also urge all parties to take measures to protect humanitarian workers. Yesterday’s annual memorial service, hosted by the Secretary-General, highlighted how much danger United Nations personnel and humanitarian workers on the ground are exposed to. We reiterate our condemnation of Russia’s ongoing indiscriminate attacks against civilian objects across Ukraine in violation of international humanitarian law. We are also deeply concerned that Russia’s coordinated strikes against energy infrastructure threaten to cripple Ukraine’s basic functions and worsen the country’s already dire humanitarian situation. Against that worrisome backdrop, leaders from various parts of the world will gather next week in Italy and Switzerland to discuss the Ukraine situation. In particular, the summit on peace in Ukraine, to be held in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, will provide us with the valuable opportunity to advance a path to ending the war and establishing a lasting peace. Lastly, we commend the recent exchange of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia, mediated by the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, respectively, with sincere hopes that those kinds of efforts will persist in the future. The Republic of Korea will continue to support the Ukrainian people in the areas of security, humanitarian aid and reconstruction until they achieve a lasting peace in their lands. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. The representative of the United States has asked for the floor to make a further statement.

I apologize for taking the floor again, but I need to respond to some remarks that were made by the representative of the Russian Federation. Russia has, for the past eight months, used and hidden behind the tragic situation in Gaza to make its highly disingenuous claims of concern for the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and damage to civilian infrastructure, while continuing to massacre civilians in Ukraine and to destroy its civilian infrastructure. Let me just be very clear — the United States will not let the Russian Federation continue that hypocrisy in the Council without a response. Therefore, let me simply say that Russia can continue to run from its crimes in Ukraine, but it cannot hide. The Russian Federation will be held to account for its crimes in Ukraine. Let there be no doubt about that.

The representative of the Russian Federation has asked for the floor to make a further statement.

I wish to take this opportunity to respond to the representative of the United States. Yes, indeed we have no opportunity to impose sanctions or to threaten with sanctions international officials if they attempt to accuse us of something, but that is something that the United States of America has been noteworthy for. When somebody tries to get to the bottom of their war crimes, they trot out any and every threat and sanction.

I now give the floor to the representative of Ukraine.

I recognize here the dictator’s envoy in the permanent seat of the Soviet Union. Listening to her statement, which was less toxic than usual, was still quite an unsanitary exercise. We have already drawn the Council’s attention to the fact that failure to subordinate Ukraine in a short victorious war has prompted Russia to retaliate with the strategy of annihilation. What we are registering now is Russia’s deliberate attempt to fully destroy those Ukrainian territories that are within the reach of Russian artillery and guided aerial bombs. Among many other Ukrainian territories, it is the very case of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and an important scientific, economic and industrial centre. Ten years ago, Russia tried to enact in Kharkiv a scenario proclaiming a so-called people’s republic similar to those Russia used in the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. To that end, buses with Russian so-called tourists arrived en masse in Kharkiv from the neighbouring Russian region of Belgorod. Assigned the role of local protesters, they were supposed to serve as a driving force for dismembering Kharkiv from the rest of Ukraine. Those attempts were repelled by both the Ukrainian authorities and local residents, and the conflict that Russia was able to incite in Donbas was prevented in Kharkiv. Apparently, that has triggered a deep grudge towards the city and its residents in both the Russian leadership and propagandists. At the Security Council meeting on 11 April (see S/PV.9600), we cited from their publicly proclaimed plans to “wipe Kharkiv off the face of the Earth”. Now, Russia is attempting to translate those calls into action. Its close proximity to the border — just 30 kilometres — exposes the city not only to long-range missile and drone strikes, but also to guided aerial bombs, S-300 ballistic missiles, Iskander missiles and their North Korean analogue, KN-23 missiles, which are supplied to Russia by Pyongyang. In just the past three weeks, Kharkiv has endured three major terrorist attacks by Russia. On 23 May, Russian troops hit Kharkiv and the nearby town of Lyubotyn with a barrage of at least 15 simultaneous S-300 missiles. As usual, the strike targeted civilian facilities, including one of the largest printing plants in Europe, Faktor-Druk. There were no military facilities inside or near the printing plant. The Russian attack killed 7 civilians, including five women, and wounded another 21. All of them were employees of the plant. On 25 May, Russian troops launched aerial bombs at Epicentr K, a large construction store in Kharkiv. There were no military facilities inside or near the shopping mall. That attack killed 19 civilians, including a 12-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, and wounded another 54. The construction store was not the Russian terrorists’ only target that day, as they also hit with an S-300 missile a densely populated area in the city centre. The explosion wounded 18 people, including a 14-year-old boy. On 31 May, Russia launched an attack on Kharkiv with five missiles, one of which hit a multi-story residential building. That time, 9 people were killed and 26 others injured, including an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. A patrol police officer and a paramedic were also among the victims, as Russia again resorted to the double-strike tactic, targeting first responders. In May, Russian forces carried out 76 air strikes against Kharkiv, three times more than in April. The air raid alerts in the city in May lasted 474 hours and 55 minutes. That is 15 hours per day. Just imagine — 15 hours out of 24, every day and every night. That is what Russia is doing to Kharkiv. The world saw the Russian forces use a similar strategy in Aleppo in 2016 to depopulate that anti-Al-Assad stronghold. In Ukraine, the Russian strategy of depopulation is not limited to Kharkiv. They are eager to expand it to the whole of Ukraine. The regular massive missile strikes aimed at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure serve that purpose. Since the beginning of this month, Russia has carried out several massive missile and drone strikes. The heaviest took place on 1 June, when Russia launched 53 missiles of various types and 47 uncrewed aerial vehicles. Most of them  — notably, 35 missiles and 46 drones  — were shot down, but those that circumvented our air defence contributed to further destruction of the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, mostly energy facilities. Last night, Russia again shelled Ukraine with missiles and drones. As of now, all Ukrainian thermal power plants have been damaged or destroyed; now, their share in electricity production has decreased to 5 per cent. Hydroelectric power stations have also suffered losses, with two hydroelectric power plants completely out of order. Russia specifically targets facilities aimed at balancing peak energy consumption in the morning and evening hours. More than 8 gigawatts of generating capacity  — approximately 40 per cent of the total capacity available in the system — have been destroyed. The Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power plant in Zaporizhzhya, is in critical condition following the 1 June strike. By hitting the hydroengineering structures of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant and its dam, Russia is provoking a new ecological disaster. That is similar to what Russia did a year ago, on 6 June, when it blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. Yesterday, the Office of the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine issued a notice of suspicion to Colonel General of the Russian Army Oleg Makarevich, who, as a commander of the Russian Dnepr group of troops, gave the order to blow up the Kakhovka dam. That order killed at least 35 civilian residents, while 24 others were reported missing. Sixty-six settlements in the Kherson and Mykolayiv regions were flooded, along with large areas of agricultural land, nature reserves and forest lands. Russian attacks continue to cause numerous casualties, including of children and pregnant women. For instance, on 4 June, a 12-year-old boy and a one-month-old baby were injured in an attack on Dnipro city. The day before, a 12-year-old boy was killed in the Donetsk region, and nine children were injured in the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. Education and health facilities were also reportedly damaged in the Kherson region during the recent attacks. Furthermore, Russia persists in committing crimes of deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian minors. It continues its policy of so-called re-education and militarization of Ukrainian children in temporarily occupied territories such as Crimea, where military-sporting facilities are being used to train schoolchildren in warfare. That is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and a grave violation of the children and armed conflict mandate regarding the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, requiring particular attention. All those actions further demonstrate Russia’s continued blatant disregard for international humanitarian law and human rights law. They confirm that Russia has not implemented any measures to cease its crimes against Ukrainian children. Therefore, it is imperative that the Russian armed forces and their affiliated armed groups remain on the list contained in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict. Russia kills Ukrainians, as it simply wants to wipe Ukrainian statehood and the Ukrainian nation off the face of the Earth. Therefore, is it right to call such a desire a Ukrainian crisis? Ukraine and its people, environment and infrastructure are suffering the most as a result of the war of aggression stemming from the Russian crisis. Nevertheless, for more than two years, we have continued to hear in this Chamber — and at least seven times in a single statement today — the words “Ukrainian crisis” instead of references to international armed conflict. This morning, Assistant Secretary- General Msuya called on us to respect international humanitarian law. Therefore, let me remind the Council that international humanitarian law distinguishes between two types of armed conflict  — namely, international armed conflicts, between two or more States; and non-international armed conflicts, between State forces and non-governmental armed groups or only between non-governmental armed groups. Enough of euphemisms that only serve to conceal the responsibility of the aggressor. The Security Council is the major intergovernmental United Nations organ empowered to maintain international peace and security. It is not a workshop for experts, journalists or the public at large to compete in inventing new language  — perhaps with the exception of those meetings that Russia calls to bring to the Chamber eccentrics and other odd personalities. We therefore call for the use of proper language regarding the international armed conflict stemming from the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine. That aggression has emerged as the territory known as the Russian Federation is suffering from a perpetual crisis — a crisis of democracy, a crisis of the rule of law and a crisis of respect for its own citizens and other States, its neighbours first of all. The war will not die down along the current lines, because there are no lines for evil — there were none 80 years ago nor are there any now. As my President stated today in France, “if someone tries to draw temporary lines, it will only provide a pause before a new war. It is the same now as it was when evil was unleashing its aggression against its neighbours in the 1930s. Hitler crossed line after line. Putin is doing the same.” Therefore, if Council members wish to address what is going on in Russia and what is being planned by Russia, they can refer to it as the Russian crisis and take the necessary steps to address the many imminent threats and challenges that that Russian crisis poses to the world. The General Assembly was very clear in its six resolutions, adopted at its eleventh emergency special session, regarding what is happening, notably, the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Let us respect international law, and let us respect its definitions. Let us respect General Assembly resolutions, including resolution ES-11/6 of 23 February 2023, which clearly envisages what should be the basis of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine — that is, sovereignty, territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders and accountability. All those have been among the elements of the Ukraine peace formula that was presented by the President of Ukraine even before the adoption of the resolution. In order to contribute to that vision of peace, based on the Charter of the United Nations, we invite all peace-loving nations to the inaugural peace summit, scheduled for 15 and 16 June in Switzerland, as each nation really can bring peace closer. The restoration of the rules-based international order can be achieved only if all peace-loving States of the world unite their efforts. Ukraine needs a strong voice from all countries in favour of a just peace, and participation in the peace summit in Switzerland will provide a platform to demonstrate the international community’s clear commitment to the appropriate principles and values. The success of the summit and a global presence at that event will be a clear signal that the world does not support the war and wants peace. The summit is aimed at providing a platform to discuss various ideas on how to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace and a high-level political start for the preparation of a joint peace framework, which should restore peace for Ukraine, for Europe and for the world.

I now give the floor to the representative of Latvia.

I have the honour to address the Council on behalf of the Baltic States, namely, Estonia, Lithuania and my own country, Latvia. We align ourselves with the statement to be delivered on behalf of the European Union, and I also thank Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for her briefing. Russia, disregarding the Charter of the United Nations and international law with its illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression, continues to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia violates international humanitarian law by targeting the civilian population and civilian objects in Ukraine. We continue to witness the deliberate and repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure  — apartment buildings, shopping centres, schools, hospitals, utility supply sites and others. Those are not military targets. Kharkiv is yet another example of Russia’s indiscriminate attacks that are killing civilians, including children, and leading to the displacement of thousands of people, adding to the millions displaced by the Russian aggression to date. Those are the beating hearts of a nation shattered by indiscriminate shelling. Terrified children, the elderly trapped in burning homes and rescue workers being killed are a searing indictment of this war. Launching a missile against a civilian target, waiting for the rescuers to arrive and then launching another missile — that is what terrorists typically do. The lives that are lost and the material damage that is caused are not mere statistics. They are human lives that are being extinguished, with everything dear to them turned into ash. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms and once again urge Russia to stop targeting civilian populations and objects. We cannot be bystanders. The Baltic nations have provided and will continue to provide humanitarian assistance and support to restore Ukraine’s energy grid. We also continue to provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself and its people. Every passing day of the ongoing war not only exacts a toll on innocent lives, but also erodes the international order founded on the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Moreover, it is very unfortunate that Russia is using the global food crisis for its own propaganda purposes, spreading its false narratives that sanctions are the main cause of the crisis, while it is instead its own brutal war of aggression. It is worth remembering that the consequences of Russia’s aggression reach far beyond the borders of Ukraine. With one third of a billion people facing acute levels of food insecurity last year, not knowing where their next meal would come from, Russia has continued to attack port infrastructure to stop Ukraine’s shipments of agricultural products to the world. We applaud Grain from Ukraine and other initiatives and all the countries that have worked on facilitating Ukraine’s agricultural products’ access to global markets. The Security Council must have no tolerance for aggressor nations, let alone a country that holds a permanent seat. That status comes with the solemn duty to safeguard global peace and security. Council members are mandated to prevent conflicts, not to ignite them. The Baltic States strongly condemn the blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including international humanitarian law. Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine is being carried out with the complicity of Belarus and with military support from Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We all must uphold the principles upon which this Organization was founded. We continue to call upon the aggressor to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. And we call upon all peace-loving nations that respect the independence and territorial integrity of every State to take part in the peace summit in Switzerland, hence directly contributing to the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, in full conformity with the sacrosanct principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The Baltic States reaffirm their full solidarity with Ukraine and their unwavering support for it until its victory.

I now give the floor to the representative of Poland.

We thank the Republic of Korea for convening this meeting and Assistant Secretary-General Msuya for providing us with the latest overview of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. It is extremely worrisome that 25 years after the Security Council adopted its first-ever resolution on the protection of civilians in armed conflict (resolution 1265 (1999)) and 75 years since the adoption of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, civilians caught in conflict situations are still the target of often deliberate attacks, in clear disregard of States’ obligations under international humanitarian law. People in Ukraine have been facing the dramatic consequences of the Russian aggression for 833 days now. That means 833 days of living in constant fear of shelling and indiscriminate attacks; limited or no access to such basic services as food, protection and education; and widespread displacement and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence. Millions of people remain displaced, both at home and abroad, with no end in sight to war. The past weeks have proved especially disastrous, with Russia’s deliberate targeting of energy infrastructure, resulting in nationwide power outages. The Russian attack on the Kharkiv region has meant a new wave of internally displaced persons forced to leave their homes. The number of attacks on the city itself  — destroying critical infrastructure, major industrial and commercial facilities, residential buildings, offices and city infrastructure, aimed at terrorizing the civilian population and forcing the local residents to flee — is outrageous. Poland consistently condemns Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which is a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations. Its repercussions heavily affect not only regional, but also global security. We deplore Russia’s attacks against civilians, civilian objects and infrastructure, and we call for accountability for violations of international law committed in Ukraine by the Russian Federation. We are appalled by the abduction and forced relocation of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation, which violates a number of international obligations. In the context of regional destabilization, we also strongly deplore the attempts to instrumentalize and weaponize migration, which we perceive as a continued campaign of hybrid attacks on Poland’s border with Belarus. As a direct consequence, in recent days a Polish soldier lost his life in a stabbing attack on the border. Let me emphasize that all countries have the obligation to comply with the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the resolutions adopted by the Council. It is worth recalling that exactly five years ago, on Poland’s initiative, the Security Council unanimously adopted its first-ever resolution on the protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflict (resolution 2475 (2019)), whose rights have been constantly violated by the Russian aggression on Ukraine. Today, I would like to reiterate that the permanent members of the Council have a particularly strong responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians, especially those in vulnerable situations. No State should ever take actions that result in the suffering of civilians. That, of course, applies to the Russian Federation as well. Therefore, only a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is the solution and answer.

I now give the floor to the representative of Sweden.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and my own country, Sweden. We thank the presidency for the opportunity to address the Council, and we thank Assistant Secretary- General Msuya for her statement and updates. Yesterday marked 119 weeks since the start of Russia’s brutal and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Every day, the war continues to cause death and destruction. Millions have been forced to flee, and thousands have been killed or injured. Homes have been destroyed, incomes lost and futures shattered. Today, almost 15 million Ukrainians — 40 per cent of the population — are in need of humanitarian aid. In parts of Ukraine, people have endured more than 10 years of Russian aggression. Cities have been annihilated, and people are unable to cover their most basic needs. Internally displaced persons are struggling to find an income and a sustainable living situation. While the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, humanitarian funding for Ukraine is declining. All in all, the humanitarian space is shrinking, hindering access to the people in greatest need. Meanwhile, Russia continues its attacks all over Ukraine. As we speak, Russia’s dreadful campaign of attacks against the Kharkiv region continues. Those attacks are driving up humanitarian needs and underscoring the brutality and human suffering of Russia’s war of aggression. Across Ukraine, Russia has reportedly destroyed 106 hospitals, 109 churches and 708 schools. Russia’s unacceptable and brutal targeted attacks against civilians and energy infrastructure have caused massive damage. Over the past weeks, large-scale attacks have forced Ukraine to impose emergency power shutdowns across most of the country. And while winter might seem far away, there are already fears of severe shortages of electricity, heating and water in the coming cold season. We call on Russia to immediately cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, in accordance with international humanitarian law. The message must be clear: Russia must stop its invasion, withdraw its forces and pay due compensation for the damage and traumas caused. The Nordics are committed to continuing their humanitarian support to Ukraine. And as we assist Ukraine in meeting those challenges, we want to highlight the following points. First, a locally led humanitarian response is vital to assist war-affected populations. Recent weeks in Kharkiv have underlined the essential role played by local actors in the humanitarian response. International efforts must be complementary to the service delivered by the Ukrainian authorities and local organizations. Consequently, we Nordics have stepped up the support for Ukrainian responders through our humanitarian partners. Secondly, our efforts demand a holistic approach. While reconstruction support can help people rebuild their lives, Russia’s attacks continue, and we must carry on providing humanitarian assistance in parallel with reconstruction. Thirdly, it is therefore important that we continue to ensure solid and effective bridges between humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts. The Nordics have stepped up support for humanitarian demining, which makes access for humanitarian actors possible and lays the foundations for recovery and reconstruction. We urgently call for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all areas in Ukraine, including those temporarily occupied by Russia. Lastly, the summit on peace in Ukraine taking place in Switzerland later this month will address humanitarian issues, with a focus on the return of prisoners of war, children and civilians, and on food security and nuclear security. All Nordic countries will participate at the highest level, signifying our firm support for President Zelenskyy’s peace formula and the path towards a just and lasting peace, in accordance with international law. We count on the Council’s support.

I now give the floor to the representative of Romania.

I thank Assistant Secretary- General Msuya for the briefing. More generally, I want to express our appreciation to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and especially to Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths for his great leadership at the helm of that most valuable United Nations entity. His role in setting up the Black Sea Grain Initiative was instrumental, and the spirit of that initiative continues, as Romania remains committed to facilitating the export of Ukrainian grains using alternative routes. In the light of the increased indiscriminate attacks by Russia on Ukrainian critical infrastructure, we are particularly worried about the recent attacks in Kharkiv, which caused more death and destruction. Russia continues to breach the Charter of the United Nations and key international principles and norms. Ukraine and Ukrainian energy infrastructure are constantly under attack. As a direct neighbour of Ukraine, Romania provides consistent bilateral support to mitigate the effects of power outages, which affect schools and health facilities and the entire population as a whole. My Government is providing emergency assistance. And together with our Ukrainian partners, we are looking into what further assistance our national energy companies can provide to Ukraine. Ukraine’s recovery will also be brought to the attention of the global community during the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin next week, and we encourage States to meaningfully support those efforts. Two weeks ago, the Council adopted a resolution on the protection of humanitarian personnel in conflict situations, in line with the principles of international humanitarian law (resolution 2730 (2024)). My delegation reiterates the need for United Nations humanitarian personnel to be granted access in order to distribute life-saving aid for the benefit of Ukrainian civilians. Their protection from indiscriminate rockets is paramount. Likewise, accountability efforts must not be forgotten. Both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have made pronouncements in line with their mandates, and they must be fully respected. We continue to strongly support their judicial activity and call for respect for their independence. Attacks on international courts are unacceptable. There have been more than 100 Council meetings on Ukraine in the past two and a half years since the war of aggression started. And yet, we will not stop repeating and reaffirming our unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Those principles are at the core of the Charter of the United Nations, and under no circumstances should we cave in and become complacent.

I now give the floor to Mr. Lambrinidis. Mr. Lambrinidis: I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its member States. I would like to thank the Assistant Secretary- General for her briefing. We are two years and four months into Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine, and yet, we are still confronted with the same surreal situation: while preparing for the presidency of the Security Council next month, Russia, a permanent member of the Council, is at the same time launching a new offensive with intensive strikes on the Kharkiv region and with systematic and brutal bombings of civilians and civilian infrastructure. I would like to stress three points. First, Russia, like everyone else, must uphold international law and cease its attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure now. In the past weeks, successive attacks in the Kharkiv region have caused more death and destruction, triggering a new wave of displacement. Reporting by the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has highlighted the terrifying impact on civilians of Russia’s latest escalation. Those who have fled the front line in search of safety are suffering new trauma in Kharkiv. Russia has also intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s power plants. Such systematic air strikes against Ukraine’s civilians and civilian and critical infrastructure violate international humanitarian law and must stop immediately and unconditionally. They disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, leaving millions of households with no power, housing, water, gas or access to basic services. The most recent report of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also indicates the effects of Russia’s aggression on health care and schooling. This year alone, the United Nations has verified 70 attacks against health-care facilities and 90 attacks against schools in Ukraine. The World Health Organization reports that, as a result of Russia’s aggression, more than 1.5 million children in Ukraine are in urgent need of mental health support. Secondly, full humanitarian access needs to be ensured. We commend the efforts of OCHA and all humanitarian partners to provide assistance to those in need, who currently amount to more than 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population. The United Nations has repeatedly highlighted the challenge of reaching civilians in areas that are currently under temporary Russian occupation. That means that an estimated 1.5 million people are being cut off from humanitarian aid. While it wages a war of aggression, Russia shows no concern for the welfare of civilians in the areas it temporarily occupies. In accordance with international humanitarian law, it must facilitate the full, safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need. It must also ensure freedom of movement for humanitarian workers. As is the case for all crises around the world, the European Union and its member States will continue to contribute generously to the United Nations humanitarian response, also in Ukraine, and we call on all countries to step up their own support. Thirdly, we reiterate our support for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine — a peace based on the Charter of the United Nations, not trampling it. To that end, the aggressor must immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine. Next week in Switzerland, there will be a summit on peace in Ukraine that will reaffirm the centrality of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and its principles. We hope that all States will participate. The European Union will be represented at the highest level. In closing, Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression and for other most serious crimes under international law. I reaffirm the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. It has been two years and four months of Russia’s full-scale aggression  — of a permanent member of the Security Council bombing, killing, maiming, destroying, land-grabbing, threatening and committing itself and its own soldiers to an effort to wipe out the sovereignty of a Member of the United Nations and to destroy it. And that permanent member’s response in this Chamber today has been: “how dare they resist? It breaks our heart, but we will have to continue killing them and destroying their country until they kneel.” That is not the language of a permanent member of the Security Council, it is the language of a mafia boss. Enough is enough. The EU will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed.