Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the UN General Assembly
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pictured during his regular speech in the nation of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
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UN – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will deliver dramatic speeches to world leaders on Wednesday, hours later Russia mobilizes hundreds of thousands of troops for its months-long assault on Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, who has yet to leave the war-weary country since the Russian invasion in February, will speak after a Ukrainian counter-offensive regains large swaths of land lost early in the war. But on the second day of diplomatic choreography at the United Nations General Assembly Hall decorated in iconic green and gold, Zelenskyy will be the only president to address world leaders. from the screen hanging over the large room.
The international forum voted last week to allow Zelenskyy to make pre-recorded remarks to the annual meeting of world leaders, except for its requirement that all leaders must speak. direct story. The 193-member world body approved Zelenskky’s virtual comment by a 101-7 vote, with 19 abstentions, including China. Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia and Syria are the seven countries that voted against Zelenskyy’s request.
Zelenskyy will be the only leader to virtually speak before the 77th United Nations General Assembly, in the first year that the annual high-level meeting in New York City has returned in person since the Covid-19 pandemic- 19.
A view of the 74th United Nations General Assembly on September 28, 2019 in New York City.
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Zelenskyy’s pre-recorded remarks come as Russia’s war enters its eighth month, and the Kremlin shows no sign of giving up its ambitions to erase Ukrainian sovereignty in order to restore the Soviet empire.
The conflict escalated earlier on Wednesday when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a referendum on whether to join Russia in the four occupied regions of Ukraine. The move is believed to be an attempt by the Kremlin to annex more neighboring territories of the former Soviet Union. Voting could take place as early as this weekend.
Putin also ordered some 300,000 Russian reservists to join the war in Ukraine. The partial mobilization, Russia’s first since World War II, follows a series of surprising Ukrainian advances in recent days.
Ukrainian forces, heavily armed with Western weapons, have made significant gains against the Kremlin’s mighty war machine.
To date, the United States has provided a war chest worth more than $15 billion to Kyiv. Meanwhile, NATO allies have increased security throughout the region, taking in refugees and training Ukrainian forces.
Read more: Biden urges allies to support Ukraine more at UN General Assembly
Even so, Zelenskyy is expected to call for more weapons as his nation waged an epochal fight for democratic principles and global order.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the Kharkiv region for the first time since Russia began attacks against his country on February 24, in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine on May 29, 2022. by the President of Ukraine / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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While most of the leaders behind a prominent speaker’s battle to speak on the international forum condemn Russia for its continued offensive behavior, Zelenskyy is expected to urge the leaders openly established their position in the war.
He will call on countries like China, the world’s second-largest economy, to abandon their neutral stance.
The United Nations estimates that Russia’s war has so far claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 civilians and resulted in more than 8,600 injuries. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights added that the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher.
Meanwhile, the European Commission and the World Bank estimated that it will cost at least $349 billion to rebuild Ukraine after the war.