With Political Will, ‘Diplomacy Can Succeed’, Secretary-General Tells Ministerial-Level Security Council Meeting on Ukraine
“Let us intensify our efforts to seek peace in Ukraine,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged a ministerial-level Security Council meeting today, as speakers debated ways to stop the war in that country, with some offering mediation and pledging support and others calling for the cessation of weapon delivery to the Russian Federation.
In his briefing to the Council, Secretary-General Guterres recalled that on 22 September, in the newly agreed Pact for the Future, world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Charter of the United Nations. “Our Organization is based on the principle of sovereignty of all Member States — within their internationally recognized borders,” he stressed. With the largest international presence in Ukraine, the UN provided aid to 6.2 million people. However, he reported that the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan was only half funded.
Also expressing concern over a resurgence of incidents around the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk Nuclear Power Plants, he emphasized: “The longer this tragic war continues, the greater the risk of escalation and spillover.” Nonetheless, he pointed out that the Black Sea Grain Initiative and continued exchanges of war prisoners serve as a reminder that, when there is political will, diplomacy can succeed — even in the darkest hour. “Today, though the prospects for peace may seem distant, I am inspired by the growing calls for dialogue,” he added.
In the ensuing discussion, many Council members rejected weapons deliveries to the Russian Federation, while others sounded the alarm over the possibility of further escalation and the use of nuclear weapons.
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States, said that support from Tehran and Pyongyang is “helping Putin inflict carnage, suffering and ruin.” The quickest way to stop the conflict is to stop those who are enabling and fuelling “Putin’s aggression,” he declared.
For his part, Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the recent transfer of short-range ballistic missiles by Iran to the Russian Federation represents a substantive material escalation and a direct threat to European security.
Similarly, Cho Tae-yul, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, expressing concerns over the Russian Federation and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s military cooperation, said that this partnership threatens not only peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, but in Europe as well.
Noting that the weapons deliveries have “absolutely not helped in bringing this war to an end,” Péter Szijjártó, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary, said that the question now is what “is the quickest way to peace.” Echoing that stance, Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of China observed that the more the weapons are sent to the battlefield, the more difficult it is to achieve the goal of cease-fire, while noting that “China has all along stood on the side of peace.”
Ian Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta, also expressed concern about possible escalation due to weapons and related materials being delivered to the Russian Federation from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran and urged the Council to ensure compliance of all weapon transfers.
For his part, Akahori Takeshi, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said that “as the only country to have ever suffered atomic bombings during the war, Japan does not accept Russia’s nuclear threats, let alone its use of nuclear weapons.” Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs for France, noting that Ukraine’s struggle “is ours” as well, urged all States to stop delivering weapons and dual-use goods to the Russian Federation.
Also stressing that the conflict cannot be solved through military means, Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana said: “Only a serious political and diplomatic process can pave the path to peace,” and commended the efforts of those who have committed to finding pathways to peacefully end the war. Along those lines, Manuel Gonçalves, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique emphasized: “Violence, regardless of its justification by any party, cannot establish the conditions necessary for lasting peace.”
“Why are we unable to agree on the path to peace?” Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland questioned, spotlighting that his country organized the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in June 2024 in Lucerne. “It is now essential to continue this dialogue with the Russian Federation as well,” he stated.
Voicing regret over the lack of inclusive international initiatives and diplomatic avenues for peace, Ahmed Attaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad of Algeria said that his country’s President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has proposed to mediate between the two parties.
However, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that “Russia can only be forced into peace”, stressing that from the start of the war, the Russian Federation acted in ways that cannot be justified under the United Nations Charter. More so, every point of the Peace Formula — proposed in 2022 — is rooted in the principles, purposes and norms of the Charter. Underscoring the need for a second Peace Summit, he said: “All of us already know how to achieve it. What is needed is determination.”
Offering a contrasting perspective, the representative of the Russian Federation said that Moscow started its Special Military Operation after the “regime in Kyiv” refused to implement the Minsk Agreements and had, instead, intensified strikes on Donbas. “If the Western camp does not excise the cancerous tumour of the current Kyiv regime peacefully” and if Washington, D.C., continues to supersede the salvation of the country, Moscow will continue its Special Military Operation until its objectives are met militarily, he added.
However, David Lammy, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, rebutted that narrative, declaring: “Your invasion is about your own interests. Yours alone.” The Russian Federation was trying to “return to the world of the past. A world of imperialism…”. He reminded that country’s representative, that, as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa and whose ancestors fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved, that he recognized imperialism. “I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is.”
Also voicing concerns of many speakers, Robert Golob, Prime Minister of Slovenia, Council President for September, spoke in his national capacity, noting that if the Russian Federation wins, “gross violations of the Charter will win as well”, making the whole world “less safe and less stable”.
Adding to that, Jaime Barberis, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, called on the Russian Federation to end its military operations in Ukraine “so that we can move without further delay toward a negotiated solution for sustainable peace.” For his part, Musa Timothy Kabba, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, urged the Council to speak with one voice in the interest of global peace and security.
While many speakers from countries in the region, including Italy and Türkiye, affirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine in its self-defence and in the rebuilding of its infrastructure, others expressed concern over the failure to find peace. Juraj Blanár, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, highlighted the lack of a firm commitment from global powers to the peace process, including in the Council. “This conflict cannot be solved unless the competition of global powers is replaced by their cooperation,” he pointed out.
Luminița Odobescu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, stressed that the war is undermining the security of the wider Black Sea area and challenging neighbouring States’ stability. Speaking about the abductions of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation, Radosław Sikorski, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, underlined that “this is not collateral war damage. It was a plan devised before the war and ruthlessly executed.”
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, speaking also for Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and Gitanas Nausėda, President of Lithuania, speaking also for Estonia and Latvia, called for the Russian Federation to be held to account, with the latter urging that a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine be established and for war criminals must be arrested under International Criminal Court arrest warrants.
“We as European neighbours, we as Germans were responsible for the worst crime on the European continent,” noted Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany. “We are lucky to live in peace again because other European friends and partners were there for us.” Germany cannot stop helping Ukraine in its self-defence or ignore what is happening, she added, because “my country pledged to always stand up for the principles of the United Nations.”
At the outset of the meeting the representative of the Russian Federation made a point of order that the programme of work for the Slovenian Security Council Presidency did not include a high-level meeting on Ukraine and questioned the participation of 11 non-Council member delegations under Rules 37 and 39 of the Security Council’s Rules of Procedure.
Slovenia’s representative, Council President for September, responded that Rule 37’s criterion is based on the interests of States specially affected. Further, non-members invited for this meeting were invited to participate in prior meetings on this topic and thus met the criterion of being “specially affected”.