UNITED NATIONS, US
Russia must face "just
punishment" over its invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has
told the United Nations General Assembly in New York.President Zelensky was allowed to address the UN by video-link, despite seven votes against the move
In a pre-recorded video, the
Ukrainian leader called for the creation of a special war tribunal and detailed
alleged war crimes by Russia.
He also set out a peace
"formula", including more military support and to punish Russia on
the world stage.
His address received a
standing ovation from many of the session's attendees.
In his introductory remarks,
Mr Zelensky accused Russia of causing "catastrophic turbulence" with
its "illegal war".
He spoke on the same day
Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 military reservists for
duty, a move which prompted rare protests on the streets of Russia.
Mr Zelensky said the move
showed his enemy was not serious about peace talks.
He condemned
recently-announced plans in Russian-occupied areas of his country to hold
so-called referendums on joining Russia - a plan denounced by Western leaders
at the UN on Tuesday.
Creating a special tribunal
would help hold Moscow to account for stealing territory and murdering
thousands of people, Mr Zelensky said.
He addressed the discovery of 445 new
graves in Izyum, a north-eastern city recently retaken from Russian forces
during a sweeping Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Mr Zelensky detailed
allegations of war crimes in the city, including against one man said to have
been castrated and murdered.
"Why are the Russian
military so obsessed with castration?" he asked.
The word
"punishment" cropped up some 15 times in Mr Zelensky's speech, and
was the first of his five non-negotiable conditions for peace.
Russia must face consequences
for its aggression, he said, through further sanctions against individuals and
by the UN stripping Moscow of its powerful role as a permanent Security Council
member.
He also called for Ukrainian
lives to be protected, and for the country's internationally-recognised borders
to be respected.
As his fourth and fifth
conditions, he called for new security guarantees for Kyiv, and for the world
to unite in calling out Moscow's armed aggression.
Sporting his signature green
t-shirt, the Ukrainian leader thanked the 101 countries at the UN which voted
to allow him to address the assembly in a video rather than in person.
He blasted the seven countries
including Russia which voted against his video appearance, and criticised those
which have remained neutral during the conflict.
Despite Mr Zelensky's
suggestion that Russia was not serious about negotiations, the two nations did
complete a major exchange of prisoners of war on Wednesday.
215 fighters were returned to
the Ukrainian side, including 10 foreigners - while Russia received 55 soldiers
and the pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvechuk, who faced treason charges in
Ukraine.
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