Zelenskyy slams ‘colonial’ peace proposal to war with Russia in UN speech

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday slammed efforts to broker a deal between Kyiv and Moscow that falls short of a “just peace” between Ukraine and Russia, as he seeks to rally Western allies to continue supporting the goal of totally defeating Russia’s yearslong invasion and providing Kyiv with the necessary weaponry to do so.

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly delivered in English, the Ukrainian leader warned that Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid and nuclear power plants raise the specter of a major ecological crisis in Europe and will deepen the suffering of the Ukrainian people ahead of the winter. He also lambasted the U.N. system as unable to resolve wars due to Russia’s ability to veto measures against it at the Security Council. Russia, like China, France, the United States and the United Kingdom, enjoys the ability to unilaterally block U.N. actions within the organization’s most selective body.

Zelenskyy also directly criticized a Chinese and Brazilian peace proposal to end the nearly three-year war between Moscow and Kyiv, arguing that proposals that do not restore all of Ukraine’s territory hearken back to the era of colonialism and imperialism. The Beijing and Brasilia-backed proposal would call for an immediate pause in fighting and peace talks to evaluate all potential peace plans.

“Ukrainians will never accept, will never accept, why anyone in the world believes that such a brutal colonial past, which suits no one today, can be imposed on Ukraine now, instead of a normal, peaceful life,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy’s appearance at this week’s high-level gathering of world leaders in New York comes as Ukraine braces for a difficult winter while Russian attacks against the country’s energy grid are straining Ukraine’s infrastructure. At the same time, Ukraine is continuing its incursion into Russian border territory while repelling a Russian offensive in the east.

The Ukrainian leader will visit Washington later this week and meet separately with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He also met with U.S. lawmakers in New York on Monday.

Ukraine has enjoyed sharp rhetorical support at the U.N. Security Council, where its allies have reiterated the need to hold Russia accountable for alleged atrocities. “Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals, we know who you are,” thundered British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Tuesday. “Imperialism, I know it when I see it.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock taunted Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who cannot travel to the United States due to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against him on charges that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine. “The strongest man in your country can hide behind teenage girls who he kidnapped. But you cannot fool the world,” she said.

But the U.S. and European allies have yet to announce if they will lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of donated weapons against targets in Russian territory, a key priority for Zelenskyy. Speaking in New York on Monday before a meeting with Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin will not support lifting restrictions on long-range missiles, saying “this would not be compatible with my personal conviction.”

And some of Zelenskyy’s moves in the United States have angered Republicans. Zelenskyy’s Sunday visit to a munitions factory in Pennsylvania, flanked by two of the state’s vulnerable Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Matt Cartwright and Sen. Bob Casey, prompted some House Republicans to call on Tuesday for an investigation into whether the use of taxpayer funds for security for the trip violated ethics rules .

A feted meeting between Zelenskyy and former President Donald Trump , who twice didn’t answer the question of whether he wanted to see Ukraine win the war during the presidential debate earlier this month, seems unlikely to occur . At a Monday night rally, the Republican nominee accused Zelenskyy of wanting Harris, the Democratic nominee, to win the election “so badly” and described him as “the greatest salesman in history.”

Russia, meanwhile, is doubling down on its threats to Ukraine’s western allies. Putin will convene a meeting of his country’s security council Wednesday to discuss Moscow’s nuclear deterrence posture.