UN General Assembly: Zelensky outlines 5-part Ukraine war peace plan in scathing speech against Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is now addressing the UN General Assembly.

Watch his remarks here.

The president of Ukraine is urging the international community to punish Russia for the the “crime” of its Ukraine invasion.

“A crime has been committed against Ukraine and we demand just punishment,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a pre-recorded address.

“The crime was committed against our state border,” he added. “The crime was committed against the lives of our people. The crime was committed against the dignity of our women and men. The crime was committed against the values that make you and me a community of the United Nations.”

The president’s speech called out Russia for “trying to steal our territory” and committing the “murders of thousands of people,” as well as the “tortures and humiliations of women and men.”

European foreign ministers are set to meet on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Wednesday to discuss new support for Ukraine following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to partially mobilise some 300,000 reservist troops for his war effort.

The urgent meeting also aims to address Russia’s intention to annex parts of southern Ukraine that it captured early in the conflict through hastily arranged referendums while fighting is ongoing.

“The ministers have to discuss this threat, to reiterate the continuing support to Ukraine and to alert the international community about the unacceptable situation in which Putin is putting all of us,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.

“It’s clear Russia wants to destroy Ukraine,” Mr Borrell said. “We will not be intimidated.”

Richard Hall has the full story.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called for Russia to face “punishment” for its invasion of his country in an address to the United Nations general assembly on Wednesday.

“A crime has been committed against Ukraine, and we demand just punishment,” he told the chamber in a more than fifteen minute long pre-recorded speech.

“The crime was committed against the lives of our people, against the dignity of our women and men, against the values that make you and me a community of the UN.”

Richard Hall has more.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky outlined a five-part peace plan to end the Russian invasion during his speech before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

Mr Zelensky called for a host of different measures, including establishing a special tribunal for the war, applying sanctions, temporarily stripping Russia of UN Security Council powers, and putting personal restrictions on top officials the Ukrainian leader described as “propagandists.”“Russia should pay for this war with its assets,” Mr Zelensky said, blasting Russian officials  “who value money above everything else.”

The plan also called for the international community to aid in the protection of life and territorial security in Ukraine, as Mr Zelensky described horrors from the war like the siege of Bucha, where bodies were left in the street to rot, and the mass graves at Izyum.

“How can we allow the Russian army somewhere on Ukrainian soil, knowing that they are committing such mass murder everywhere?” Mr Zelensky asked. “We cannot. We must protect life. The world must protect life.”

Other parts of the “peace formula” proposed by the Ukrainian president include continued financial and military support for Ukraine, legally security guarantees, and a declaration that Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism.

Throughout the speech, Mr Zelensky attacked Russia and praised the bravery of Ukraine’s military.

“There is only one entity among all UN member states who would say now, if he could interrupt my speech, that he’s happy with this war, with his war,” the preisdent said. “But we will not let this entity prevail over us. Even though it is the largest state in the world, Ukraine showed strength on the battlefield, using its right to self defence.”

The speech was followed by a lengthy standing ovation from the delegates in New York.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation from United Nations diplomats after giving a virtual speech in which he outlined a five-point “formula for peace.”

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska could be seen smiling as delegates to the United Nations General Assembly warmly applaud her husband following his address on Wednesday evening.

In his address to the 77th session of the UNGA, Mr Zelensky spoke out against Russia’s unprovoked invasion of his country, which is now into its seventh month.

Graeme Massie is following the story.

During his speech before the United Nations on Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted Russia atrocities in Ukraine

The Ukrainian leader talked about seeing citizens castrated on the battlefield, corpses left out in the street, and bodies piled into mass graves.

“Ask, please, the representative of Russia, why the Russian military are so obsessed with castration,” Mr Zelensky said. “What was done to them so that they want to do this to others?”

Here’s some of the Independent’s reporting on Russian war crimes.

During his speech at the UN on Wednesday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

What would that look like?

The demand has some precedent. After World War II, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg charged 24 German leaders for violations of international law.

There is no international criminal court that has jurisdiction over crimes of aggression in Ukraine, as Just Security notes. The country, along with Russia, is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court. However, it did submit to the court’s jurisdiction in 2014.

However, due to the nature of the Rome Statute, prosecuting crimes of aggression isn’t allowed against non-member states.

As such, a new special tribunal would need to be created to fully hold Russia accountable, a process that would be substantially aided by the UN General Assembly, which can authorise the UN Secretary General to work with Ukraine to voluntarily establish such a body via international agreement.

Numerous Russians were out in the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg on Wednesday in a rare display of public protest, after the Russian government announced it would be seeking seeking as many as 300,000 reservists to join the war in Ukraine.

In recent days, Russia’s military gains in the country have fallen back into Ukrainian hands.

Here’s our report on the protests.

That’s all for our rolling coverage today of the United Nations General Assembly.

Thank you for reading, and do stay tuned with The Independent for all the latest news and analysis.