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Associated Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged world leaders on Wednesday to strip Russia of its vote in international institutions and its UN Security Council veto, saying that aggressors need to be punished and isolated.
Zelensky began his much-anticipated speech by video to the UN General Assembly hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation of reservists to further his war against Ukraine.
While Zelensky had yet to address the development, he said his forces “can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms. But we need time”.
He also demanded punishment for Russia, including barring Russia from voting in international bodies and exercising its Security Council veto.

Standing ovation at UN after @ZelenskyyUa speech. Check a smilw of @ZelenskaUA pic.twitter.com/rxcibrLyFM
— Nika Melkozerova (@NikaMelkozerova) September 21, 2022

“So long as the aggressor is a party to decision-making in the international organisations, he must be isolated from them,” Zelensky said.
Russia has not yet had its turn to speak at the gathering.
Putin has said he sent his armed forces into Ukraine because of risks to his country’s security from what he considers a hostile government in Kyiv; to liberate Russians living in Ukraine – especially its eastern Donbas region – from what he views as the Ukrainian government’s oppression; and to restore what he considers to be Russia’s historical territorial claims on the country.
The war has dominated the global gathering, which comes nearly seven months after Russia launched what has become the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II.
‘Over 1,300 arrested’ as Russians protest against Ukraine mobilisation
In a reflection of the circumstances, Zelensky was not at the august rostrum where other presidents, prime ministers and monarchs speak at international diplomacy’s most prominent annual gathering. Instead, he got an exception to speak via video.
As a permanent member of its most powerful entity, the Security Council, Russia was able to veto a demand to stop its attack on Ukraine days after it began.
But the move that galled a number of other countries and led to action this spring in the broader General Assembly, where resolutions are not binding but there are no vetos.
The assembly voted overwhelmingly in March to deplore Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, call for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all Russian forces, and urge protection for millions of civilians. The next month, members a smaller but still commanding number of members voted to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.


Putin’s decree on Wednesday about the partial mobilisation was sparse on details. Officials said as many as 300,000 reservists could be tapped.
It is an apparent effort to seize momentum after a Ukrainian counteroffensive this month retook swathes of territory that Russians had held.
But the first such call-up in Russia since World War II also brings the fighting home in a new way for Russians and risks fanning domestic anxiety and antipathy toward the war.
Soon after Putin’s announcement, flights out of the country rapidly filled up as people scrambled to book one-way tickets and prices spiked. Hundreds of people were arrested at anti-war demonstrations across the country.
Flights out of Russia sell out after Putin’s mobilisation call
A day earlier, Russian-controlled parts of eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans for referendums on becoming parts of Russia. Ukrainian leaders and their Western allies consider the votes illegitimate.
Zelensky’s speech was one of the most keenly anticipated at a gathering that has dwelled this year on the war in his country.
But it was not the first time the first-term president has found himself in the spotlight at the assembly’s annual meeting of presidents, premiers, monarchs and foreign ministers.
At last year’s General Assembly meeting, Zelensky memorably compared the UN to “a retired superhero who’s long forgotten how great they once were” as he repeated appeals for action to confront Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and its support for the separatists.


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Ukraine war

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky urges world leaders to punish Russia for invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen on a screen as he remotely addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Biden at UN urges Russia accountability over Ukraine and slams China as he extols democracy

President Joe Biden of the US delivers his address during the 77th General Debate inside the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. Photo: AP

US President Joe Biden delivers an address at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The Russian delegation, top centre, watches as Biden delivers his remarks at the UN General Assembly. Photo: AP

Ukraine war: Russia calls up 300,000 reservists as Putin vows ‘all means’ for defence

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the nation in Moscow on Wednesday. Photo: Russian Presidential Press Service 

A hoarding with the slogan ‘Glory to the Heroes of Russia’ in St Petersburg, Russia. Photo: EPA-EFE

Destroyed Russian armour in Izium, a town recently liberated by Ukrainian troops in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Russia releases 10 foreigners captured in Ukraine

This combination photo shows US military veterans Andy Huynh (left) and Alexander Drueke, who have been released after being captured while fighting Russia in Ukraine. Photos: The Decatur Daily/Lois “Bunny” Drueke/Dianna Shaw via AP

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Photo: AFP

News

World

Russia & Central Asia


The country should be stripped of its Security Council veto, the president says in his address to the UN General Assembly
Unlike other world leaders, Zelensky did not attend the global gathering, instead receiving an exception to speak via video



The country should be stripped of its Security Council veto, the president says in his video speech to the UN General Assembly.
