Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a five-point “peace formula” between him and the invasion of Russia during a debate at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, identifying the first step as “punishment.”
Zelensky fixed From the forum in Kyiv, the General Assembly voted 101 to 7 to approve the move. Zelensky named and shamed the seven communist countries — Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, and Syria of Russia and Russian proxy Bashar al-Assad — accusing them of fearing his words.
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a nearly nine-year war with Russia that began with the invasion and colonization of Ukraine’s Crimea region and the beginning of the ongoing conflict in the Donbas region, where pro-Russian separatists have announced the establishment of two “Sovereign state. In February, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced that he recognized the “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbass as states and would send Russian armed forces into Ukraine at their request to ” De-Nazification” Zelensky’s government. Zelensky, elected as the “Pro-RussianThe candidate in the 2019 free and fair election took offense to being labelled a Nazi and pointed to his Jewish ancestry.
Putin’s efforts in Ukraine have stalled since the bombing of the Greater Kyiv region in the first half of this year. The Ukrainian army recently claimed to have recaptured several southern cities. Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization, including conscription, aimed at reversing what outside observers see as a marked decline in Russia’s success in the war.
Zelensky discussed the war ahead of the convention through the lens of a five-point plan, which he believes can be universally applied to any conflict for peace. Before revealing the plan, he insisted to those urging Ukraine and Russia to try negotiations that the diplomatic time was over and that talks had indeed been tried and unsuccessful.
“From the beginning of my presidency to February 24 this year, we held 88 rounds of talks in various forms to prevent this war,” he recalled.
Zelensky claimed his peace plan would necessarily require major reforms to the United Nations, later questioning the logic of a rogue state like Russia’s permanent seat on the Security Council, and the incompetence of the UN agency.
“I’m going to come up with a formula that applies not only to us, but to anyone who might find themselves in a situation similar to ours,” he said. “It’s to punish crime, protect lives, restore security and territorial integrity, ensure safety, provide The formula for determination. There are five prerequisites for peace.”
Punishment, as he said, was the first step in his plan to end the war.
Zelensky called for widespread sanctions on Russia, ranging from banning Russian tourists from free countries to banning Russia from participating in international forums such as the Security Council, as well as commercial sanctions to impoverish the Russian economy.
“Preventing trade and relations with the aggressor is part of the peace plan. It’s all a punishment. As long as the aggressor is a party to the decision-making of an international organization, he must be isolated from them – at least until the aggression continues,” Zelensky said. “Reject the right to vote. Take away the power of delegation. Take away the veto — if it’s a member of the UN Security Council.”
“Citizens of the aggressor country should not be allowed to travel or shop in the country of peace, but should be encouraged to oppose their own aggression through visa restrictions,” he continued. “Punishment for instigation. A special tribunal should be established to punish Russian aggression against our country. Crime. This will be a signal to all ‘possible’ aggressors that they must value peace or the world will hold them accountable.”
The other four elements of peace that Zelensky proposed—protecting life, “restoring security and territorial integrity,” “safety,” and “determination”—provided less specific courses of action for other states. Zelensky did encourage other countries to list Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and to seek a military treaty with Ukraine to deter further Russian action — although he did not list NATO membership as a specific desire.
Zelensky ended up condemning not only Russia’s allies, but also those who chose not to support either side.
“When human values and peace are under attack, those who talk about neutrality mean something else. They talk about indifference – everyone thinks of themselves,” the Ukrainian president said. “That’s what they say. They pretend to be interested in each other’s problems. They look out for each other formally. They only sympathize with the agreement. That’s why they pretend to protect someone, but in reality, they only protect their vested interests.”
“This is what creates the conditions for war. This is what needs to be corrected in order to create the conditions for peace,” he concluded.
