President Andrzej Duda said during an open debate on Ukraine at the UN Security Council that “February 24, 2022 is the date when the world as we knew it until now changed irreversibly.” He added that since the Russian invasion, “we are living in an era of uncertainty.”
The Polish president was one of several dozen leaders and heads of delegations who spoke in Wednesday’s debate at the UN Security Council. They starred in it primarily President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who proposed a number of reforms of the UN system, including the mechanism for overriding the veto of permanent members of the Council by the General Assembly and preventive sanctions on countries committing aggression. The debate was also attended by, among others: US foreign minister Antony BlinkenGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz and prime minister Italian Giorgia Meloni. Russia was represented by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
– From the perspective of my region, February 24, 2022 is the date when the world we knew so far changed irreversibly. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has become a defining moment in geopolitics, transforming the entirety of European security and destroying the very foundations of our international system, said President Duda.
– This strategic change is not temporary. We live in a new era of uncertainty, the president added.
Duda: Imperialist Russia discredits itself as a member of the international community
Andrzej Duda stated that when Russia took over from the USSR as a permanent member of the Council, it agreed to assume greater responsibility for protecting international security and the fundamental principles of the UN. Instead, said the Polish president, she chose to consciously trample on these norms and is still doing it.
– From air attacks on critical infrastructure to exacerbating the global food crisis by blocking trade routes and destroying Ukrainian port infrastructure. From causing an ecological disaster by blowing up the dam in Novaya Kakhivka to bombing cultural heritage sites in Ukrainian cities – said President Duda.
“These heinous actions, combined with the constant denial of the international order, including the United Nations Charter, prove that imperialist Russia is discrediting itself as a member of the international community,” he said. He accused Moscow of abusing its veto power. He emphasized that the world cannot be passive.
Dud: perpetrators of international crimes must not be allowed to go unpunished
– If we do not take solidarity actions today to defend the fundamental values ​​of international law, tomorrow it may be too late – the president urged. Duda also expressed support for the creation of a special tribunal to try Russian crimes and an international mechanism for compensation for damage to Ukraine. – The perpetrators of international crimes must not be allowed to go unpunished. They should be tried in the competent courts. This should be our imperative to ensure lasting peace in the future, he said.
Main photo source: UN Web TV