On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a breach of the founding U.N. Charter and international law and criticized Russian threats to use nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear threats have been implied. Tactical nuclear use is unthinkable. Step back from the edge now, “Guterres warned the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on the first anniversary of the Ukrainian war.
The UN Charter requires “the necessity to attain, as quickly as practicable, a comprehensive, fair and enduring peace,” which the General Assembly will likely ratify on Thursday.
Guterres said the U.N. Charter is “unambiguous”: “All members should refrain in their international dealings from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
Guterres stated that the UN supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized boundaries.
The UN Assembly would again urge Russia to remove its troops and end hostilities.
Moscow asked U.N. governments to vote against an “unbalanced and anti-Russian” motion.
“When you are giving weapons to Ukraine, you are assisting Ukraine to preserve U.N. Charter,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters.
“Russia became an aggressor,” he remarked at the UN. “Sending weapons to them undermines the UN Charter and its values. Simple.”
Russia claims it initiated a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine and safeguard Russian speakers. It accuses the West of waging a “proxy war” against it by arming Ukraine and sanctioning Moscow.
The US and western allies have labeled the invasion an unjustified territorial grab against a sovereign nation.
