New York: During a meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday, Gulf countries expressed great concern over the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and urged all participants to work to resolve the crisis through dialogue and diplomacy.
Speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Abdulaziz Alatek, expressed the Council’s support for international efforts to achieve peace and de-escalation of tensions, and expressed political views from those involved in the conflict. urged to initiate discussion. Trying to find solution.
They called for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2202, which was adopted unanimously in 2015, and called for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and the withdrawal of all heavy weapons by both sides to create a security zone together.
His remarks came during a plenary session of the UN General Assembly to discuss the latest developments in the long-running crisis along Ukraine’s eastern borders.
Western leaders on Wednesday sought to stop Moscow from launching a full-scale invasion of the country by imposing punitive sanctions on members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and threatening even harsher punishments if the Kremlin launches a military offensive.
The punitive action was announced in response to the latest development surrounding Russia’s deployment of 150,000 troops on three sides of its border with Ukraine.
While a full-scale offensive has yet to begin, Russian forces entered rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, after President Vladimir Putin officially recognized the independence of those separatist regions.
“Citizens will not have to pay the price for military enhancements,” Alatek told representatives of more than 70 countries at the meeting. He stated that the GCC is “in favor of international law and the United Nations Charter, in particular the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, not to use force or the threat of the use of force, as well as to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Is. “
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states is “the final blow to years of the peace process”.
He warned other member states that if Putin was not stopped, others would follow in his footsteps and that “your government and people will face the same consequences as our government and our people.”
He added: “It is clear that Putin will not stop by himself. A war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it, a dire scenario that will throw us back into the darkness of past centuries.”
Culeba described the current situation as “the biggest security crisis in Europe” since World War II, and added that any failure by the international community to respond properly would only add to the suffering, which “would have me saying Sorry, it will not be limited to Ukraine.”
He added that “Russia should withdraw its forces from the territories of Ukraine,” and added that a prompt response by the United Nations, commensurate with the gravity of the situation, would help restore the organisation’s credibility.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia accused Ukraine’s government of pursuing a “policy of depriving its own people of basic human rights”.
He added: “Kiev continues to bomb its own civilians and shy away from direct communication in the Donbass (region).
“Ukraine has been at war with its own citizens who do not agree with the current policy of the authorities. Western supporters do little to ask Ukraine to pay attention to its own people, which displays double standards.”
He added that “in the midst of this ‘genocide’, Russia cannot remain indifferent.”
Nebenzia warned that “this conflict is by no means over. The shelling of residential areas in both republics (Donetsk and Luhansk) has not stopped. We warn you, since the ceasefire will be monitored by the Russian military, So no one intends to be mildly lenient with violators. We encourage you to rein in Kiev.”
The Russian envoy also criticized UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who he said has “followed the sad example of the West.” He also rejected the UN chief’s offer of his “good offices” to return to talks.
“We don’t understand what ‘good position’ the secretary general is talking about, which can be granted,” he said.
Guterres called for a ceasefire and an immediate restoration of the rule of law, calling the crisis “I really hoped that the moment of crisis would not come.”
At Russia’s insistence that it conduct a peacekeeping operation in eastern Ukraine, Guterres said he was concerned about the “distortion of the concept of peacekeeping”.
He continued: “When soldiers of one country enter the territory of another country without its consent, they are not impartial peacekeepers. They are not peacemakers at all.”
Britain’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations, Lord Tariq Ahmed of Wimbledon, said his country had imposed the “largest sanctions package against Russia in UK history”.
He added that “the Kremlin must understand the strength of the world’s condemnation of war of Putin’s choice” and “we must say very clearly to Russia: ‘Pull back; choose peace not war.’ And to the people of Ukraine: ‘We, the United Nations, stand with you.'”
Tobias Lindner, Minister of State at the German Foreign Office, said: “We need to close the ranks and strongly reject Russia’s actions. Otherwise, what happens to Ukraine today will happen to other (UN) members tomorrow.” “
US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned: “If Russia continues on this path, it could lead to a new refugee crisis, one of the largest facing the world today, 5 million from Russia’s war of choice.” More people have been displaced, further increasing pressure on Ukraine’s neighbours.
“Since Ukraine is one of the world’s largest wheat suppliers, especially to the developing world, Russia’s actions could drive up food prices and create even more desperate hunger in places such as Libya, Yemen and Lebanon. Is.”