UN Security Council condemns Russia's "special military" operation in Ukraine

Shafaq News/ The United Nations Security Council members condemned Russia's step in attacking Ukraine.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Russian President to withdraw his troops and added: "In the name of humanity do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century, with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation, but with an impact, we cannot even foresee in relation to the consequences for the global economy."

"At the exact time as we are gathered in the Council seeking peace, Vladimir Putin delivered a message of war in total disdain for the responsibility of this Council. This is a grave emergency," US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Council.

"This is a perilous moment, and we're here for one reason, and one reason only: to ask Russia to stop. Return to your borders. Send your troops, tanks, and planes back to their barracks and hangars. And send your diplomats to the negotiating table. Back away from the brink before it is too late." She added.

"But what we said would happen has come to pass, for all the world to see," the US Ambassador spelled out. "We must confront this threat head-on."

French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière said that Russia is on the verge of provoking chaos in Ukraine and striking "an unjustifiable blow to peace and security in the heart of Europe."

He said that President Putin had been planning this assault for months and had consistently and patiently undermined Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Throughout all this, Ukraine had shown remarkable restraint, including restraining from violence," de Rivière said.

He reminded that European allies and the United States had consistently expressed commitment to work together with Russia to seek a diplomatic solution, and "the international community had made its united voice heard earlier today in the General Assembly, calling for respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty.

In the face of all this, the French Ambassador said that "if Russia confirms that its choice is war, it will have to take all the responsibility and pay the price."

Meanwhile, UK Ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward noted that Russia has been holding "a gun to Ukraine's head" for months.

Members of the Security Council, General Assembly, and the Secretary-General himself called for an end to Russia's aggression.

"The world is calling for peace, but Russia is not listening," she said.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya, who is serving as the President of the Council for February, said that after listening to the statements tonight and in recent days, it was challenging to explain the intensification of shelling by the Ukrainian regime of civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk.

All the speeches and speakers seemed not to care for those people "who are living in basements. They seemed not to care about the refugees are fleeing to Russia," he said, as if "those four million people simply don't exist."

"We tried yesterday and the day before to explain the logic by which Russia recognized the regions in the Donbas, but you didn't want to hear it, then or now. As a result, the people of the Donbas have been living in fear for the past eight years under Ukraine's shelling and aggressions," he said.

The Russian Ambassador stated that "the root of today's crisis around Ukraine is Ukraine itself, which has for years been undermining the Minsk Agreements and calls for de-escalation."

UN staff remain on the ground to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine, Under-Secretary-General for political and peacebuilding Rosemary A. DiCarlo told the Council said, adding, "we are committed to staying and delivering."

"All parties must ensure the safety and security. Respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law is also paramount", she stated.

While the world cannot predict what will happen in the coming hours and days ahead, Ms. DiCarlo said that "what is clear is the unacceptably high cost – in human suffering and destruction – of an escalation," concluded the senior UN official.

"I will keep you apprised of the situation," he said and added that "occupation of Ukraine is not in our plan; we plan to protect the people from the genocide perpetrated by the regime in Kyiv."

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said, "It's too late to speak about de-escalation. Too late. The Russian President declared war."

"I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war," he concluded.

Before the end of the meeting, several members of the Council took the floor a second time to condemn President Putin's announcement of Russia's so-called "special military operation" in areas of eastern Ukraine.