Mr. President, 

Members of the Council,  

Distinguished Heads of State, 

Colleagues, 

This is the fifth General Assembly session since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the thirteenth since Putin began this war. This is the longest, most devastating, most dangerous war in Europe since the Second World War.

So many speeches have been made in this Council. So many right words. But the war drags on.

I don’t want to make another speech that will not stop the war. Enough speeches. Enough broken promises. Enough imitation of diplomacy. Enough. This war has to stop. Ukraine wants to end it now — not later. We are ready for a full, unconditional ceasefire. Ready for ceasefires on energy and food. Ready to stop right now, right here.

We were not the ones who started it. We were invaded. We keep on fighting — defending our home.

I'll tell you more. There are fifteen members of this Council. Fourteen support, in one way or another, an immediate ceasefire. Including four permanent members. Including the United States and China. Only one state blocks an end to hostilities. And it is the aggressor itself. Russia vetoes not just a ceasefire. Russia vetoes peace. Putin could have ended this war long ago. But he chooses daily escalation.

And I want to make it clear, if we don’t force Russia to accept ceasefire now ahead of us will be even more escalation caused by Russia.

This Council was built on the ashes of the most devastating war in human history. Its foundation stands on eighty million graves. Have we forgotten? It was created to make the Second World War also the last world war. But today, we are closer than ever to another global catastrophe — because Putin does not abandon his plan to destroy Ukraine at any cost.

This is not a Ukrainian war. Not even a European one. It is a global threat. Preventing the worst scenario depends on everyone in this room, and beyond it.

Colleagues,

No one needs another speech that does not stop the war. Instead, let's ask questions that lead to action.

First: why this war matters to everyone. Second: why it cannot be normalized. Third: why it cannot be stopped by appeasement.

First, anyone who says "this is not our war" is wrong. This is everyone’s war, because its consequences reach everywhere.

When Russia first blocked Ukrainian ports four years ago, food prices jumped twenty-five percent worldwide. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East were hit hardest.

Right now, because Putin refuses to end this war, the Black Sea is blocked again. Four hundred million people who depend on Ukrainian grain are not getting it. Eleven million tonnes risk spoiling. The damage will last many years if we don't restore freedom of navigation now.

Across Africa, Russia recruits young men into its army by promising fake job and scholarship offers. We have identified at least three thousand mercenaries from thirty-seven African countries in the Russian army. And those are only the documented cases. Encouraged by his staged elections, Putin now plans a new draft at home, and even more aggressive recruitment across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

In the Middle East, Iran and its friends — Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis — grow bolder by the day. Moscow backs Tehran with weapons, technology, and intelligence. Chaos and high oil prices in the region are favourable for Russia — and its war budget.

In Asia, Russia is dragging North Korea directly into this war, destabilizing the Korean Peninsula. Twenty thousand troops already deployed. Many more thousands this year, if Putin does not stop.

In return, Kim gets technology, training, resources — such as Russian-trained drone operators. There are no guarantees that he will not use them to destabilise the Korean Peninsula and the entire Indo-Pacific.

In Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Russia uses economic pressure and energy blackmail to destabilize its neighbors, recruiting their citizens and exposing their economies to secondary sanctions.

In Latin America, this war means Russia’s intensified, predatory recruitment — and state propaganda dividing societies.

Even in Europe, some politicians still say "this is not our war." They must be blind. Russia already wages war on Europe — arson, assassination, cyberattacks, disinformation, election meddling, the weaponization of energy, food, and migration, drones and missiles crossing into NATO airspace. This is not "hybrid." Drop this word. Russia’s war against Europe is no longer hybrid.

Instead of safeguarding peace, Russia is spreading war. That is everyone's problem.

Second — this war cannot be normalized.

Getting used to horrifying headlines does not make them less tragic. The world must not get used to this war.

Take one town: Oleshky, and its wider community on the occupied left bank of the Dnipro. Under siege. Food, medicine, electricity, gas — all cut off. As winter approaches, Russia is deliberately making life there impossible. They are starving them to death. No country, no international organization can reach those people. Every day they run out of food, out of water, and all resources to live.

The world rightly condemned the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis. Today, Russia applies the same method against Ukrainians. The Kremlin reproduces the crimes of the past.

And this policy echoes an older wound: the Holodomor genocide, when millions of Ukrainians were deliberately starved by the Kremlin regime. Hunger was Moscow's weapon then. It is Moscow's weapon now.

One Oleshky resident named Alya survives only on tea with honey. The last food delivery reached her town before summer. This is not neglect — OSCE monitors call it an engineered blockade. Russia doesn’t let people leave, because it uses them as human shields.

If you remember one thing from this meeting, remember Oleshky. Hear their cry for help. Demand Russia open humanitarian corridors. Moscow is the only cause of this disaster, and the only obstacle to ending it.

Oleshky is only one horror among many. In the first half of this year, more Ukrainian civilians were killed than in any same period in four years. And each month has broken this sad record. Russian forces have committed nearly nine hundred documented acts of sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners. Sixteen of the victims were children. Some as young as four. This can not be normalized.

Third — this war cannot be stopped by appeasement. This is not the United Nations Impunity Council. Even though Russia wishes it to be.

And let me remind. Russia occupied the seat of the Soviet Union illegally. The aggressor must be removed from this table.

The mission of this Council is to safeguard peace and security.

If Russia vetoes peace, we must veto Russia's war.

That means concrete steps: intensify diplomacy to end this war. Demand Russia accept a ceasefire. Cut off the resources fueling its terror. Strengthen sanctions. End Russia’s access to technology. Expose its recruitment, disinformation, and destabilization. Provide Ukraine with what we need to defend our people in winter. Help us bring home our abducted children. Join our fight for accountability.

Every country that refuses to support Russia's war can contribute to peace. Act now.

Russia is never as strong as it wants us to believe. And never as weak as we want it to be.

Russia is no longer a global power. It’s a global problem. And it requires a global solution.

Mr. President — the Russian representative spoke at this table. I made an effort to listen to his boring fairy tales and manipulations. To make sure they haven’t changed. One phrase set it all. I am citing him – «We are not going to stop our special military operation». He offered many reason why Russia continuing this war.

He blamed Ukraine, the United States, the West, NATO… Anyone but Putin. And he will even try to present Russia as the victim. But instead, listen carefully to what he will not say.

I know at least three questions he cannot answer.

First: why won't your president sit down with our president to end this war now?

Second: in August, you lost tens of thousands of soldiers — to seize a few square kilometers. What did they die for?

Third: you wanted Kyiv in three days... How did you end up with Moscow burning four years later?

Silence will be his only honest answer.

We must stop this war now. Before Putin enters your home. He is already at the entrance.

Thank you, Mr. President.