Thank you, President, and thank you High Representative Nakamitsu
for your briefing today.
President, the Russian Representative has today once again
attempted to recast Russia’s war on Ukraine as a product of
‘Western aggression’.
We have of course heard many different explanations from our
Russian colleagues in this Chamber.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, we were told that
occupation of Ukraine was not part of the plan. That the goal was
apparently to protect people who had been victimised and exposed
to genocide. A claim which the International Court of Justice, of
course, dismissed.
We have subsequently been subjected to spurious meetings on
biolabs, on persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church and on
Russophobia as a threat to international peace and security.
President, Russia’s attempts to obfuscate and distract from
reality are not only a waste of this Council’s time, but
they are also ineffective. No amount of linguistic gymnastics
from our Russian counterparts can change the facts.
The truth regarding Russia’s aggression is clear. For more
than two years now, Russia has been engaged in neo-imperial war
of aggression in flagrant violation of the UN
Charter.
President Putin is creating a Russia, and Russian economy, that
is geared for constant war with 40% of the country’s federal
budget dedicated to military and security spending alone.
It is clear that President Putin has no intention of peace any
time soon and indeed, it begs the question of his plans beyond
Ukraine too.
President, in conducting its war of aggression, Russia has
relentlessly targeted Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,
including through double-tap strikes targeting first responders.
Just last night, Russia attempted to carry out a massive missile
attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Russia has kidnapped
Ukrainian children. It has deployed UAVs from Iran, and ballistic
missiles from North Korea in violation of this Council’s
resolutions and has press-ganged foreign nationals to fight its
war from Ghana, from India, from Nepal.
President, as the UN reported this week, in the areas of Ukraine
that Russia temporarily occupies, it has attempted to consolidate
control through a ‘climate of fear’, by using execution, torture,
sexual violence, arbitrary detention, censorship, surveillance,
political oppression and movement restrictions – all of this is a
stark contrast to the image of happy citizens expressing their
democratic rights that the Russian Ambassador attempted to paint
in this Council last week.
President, the cost to Russia and the Russian people of President
Putin’s neo-imperial vanity have also been profound:
The Russian economy has lost $400 billion through sanctions and
hundreds of thousands of young Russians have left for
opportunities abroad. For those who have stayed, free speech
has been silenced. More than 20,000 have been imprisoned for
opposing Putin’s war.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been decimated and nearly 3,000
tanks and 105 fixed wing aircraft have been destroyed. The
Russian military has suffered more than 350,000 casualties. Of
course, you won’t hear about this on Russian television, but it
is all too real for the more than a million Russian mothers,
fathers, sisters and brothers touched by the tragedy of President
Putin’s hubris.
And all this for a war that Russia cannot win.
Russia cannot win because through their courage and ingenuity
Ukrainians have shown they will not be subjugated. Russian cannot
win because the international community will not abandon Ukraine.
We do not have cold feet. We will continue to provide Ukraine
with the weapons it needs to defend its territory from Russian
aggression. And President, finally, Russia cannot win
because it is vital that imperialism and colonial ideology are
consigned to the past.
So, we once again call on the Russian Federation to stop
wasting this Council’s time, to end its war of aggression and to
uphold the UN Charter.
