As news of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering a military operation in eastern Ukraine broke, United Nations Secretary General Atonio Guterres, speaking at a hastily called Security Council meeting, asked Russia to stop the attack on Ukraine and to “give peace a chance.” By the morning of Thursday, New York time, it had become apparent that Moscow was engaged in an extensive attack on Ukraine.
“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” the Secretary General said. Mr. Guterres was speaking before Mr. Putin’s announcement was made public. The United Nations (UN) Security Council met at 9.30 p.m. – its second meeting this week, this one called at Ukraine’s request.
“It is too late to call for de-escalation,” Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said as he repeatedly said Mr. Putin had goneto war. He called for Russia’s representative Vasily Nebenzya to give up his position as President of the Council.
After his speech, Mr Nebenzya said it was not a “war” that Mr. Putin had declared but a “special military operation in the Donbass.”
“For you those living in Donbass are simply pawns in a geopolitical game focused on weakening Russia,” he told Security Council members, denying that Russia had conducted false flags operations in the Donbass.
During his main speech (which just preceded Mr. Kyslytsya’s), Mr. Nebenzya said, “We don’t know all the details today” about his President’s (Mr. Putin’s) operation in eastern Ukraine.
India, which has strong partnerships with Moscow and the West, continued to use long winded phrases and oblique references to the situation, as in pervious Council meetings, not referring to Russia by name. During his remarks, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, T.S. Tirumurti said India had “noted with regret” that calls for de-escalation of tensions were not heeded.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and refraining from any further action that could contribute to a worsening of the situation. We call on all parties to exert greater efforts to bridge divergent interests,” he said, adding that the “legitimate security interests of all parties should be fully taken into account.”
Mr. Tirumurti also did not mention the Minsk Agreement as he had done in earlier meetings. Instead he called for a settlement “in accordance with international law” and agreements between parties. He said that a solution lies in “sustained diplomatic dialogue.”
The representatives of the U.S., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and her British counterpart, Barbara Woodward, made second statements after Mr. Putin’s announcement. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. would be presenting a Security Council resolution. “This is a grave emergency,” she said.
“In my [ earlier ] remarks tonight, I said that we predicted Russia’s false flag attacks, the misinformation, the theatrical emergency meetings and the cyberattacks. But one piece had not come to pass. Unfortunately, while we’ve been meeting in the Security Council tonight, it appears that President Putin has ordered that last step at the exact time as we are gathered in the Council seeking peace, Putin delivered a message of war in total disdain for the responsibility of this Council,” she said.
Ms. Woodward said the U.K. supported the U.S.’s call for a resolution. Other members also made second statements after Mr. Putin announced his operation. France too said it would prepare a resolution and asked all members to support it. France’s U.N. representative, Nicolas de Riviere, said Mr. Putin’s announcement during the meeting showed his disdain for the UN and international law.
