The Russian foreign minister today laid out the facts leading to the war in Ukraine, making the West cover its ears and Ukraine to cover itself in shame.
The following is the transcript of remarks delivered to the U.N. Security Council by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, followed by responses from Ukraine, the U.S. and Britain.
Sergei Lavrov
I’d like to begin by expressing my gratitude to my Western colleagues, especially my European ones. Let me explain why.
If it weren’t for them, the Ukrainian situation would remain in limbo, and the residents of Crimea, Donbass, and Novorossiya would be deprived of the right to choose.
Back in 2004, by forcing an illegitimate third round of presidential elections on Ukraine, Brussels decided to establish complete clarity, demanding that Ukrainians choose their ally: Russia or Europe. In 2013, having organized riots in Kyiv demanding the immediate conclusion of an Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, Brussels, openly ignoring its obligations under the CIS free trade zone , insisted on its own approach.
Having led the negotiation process between the legitimate president and the opposition in February 2014, the Europeans secured an agreement to resolve the crisis, in which Viktor Yanukovych accepted all the conditions put forward, including the creation of a national unity government to prepare for early presidential elections, with the authorities and the opposition immediately renouncing any violence.
The document was signed on February 21, 2014, under official guarantees from Germany (Frankfurt-Walter Steinmeier), Poland (Roman Sikorski), and France (L. Fabius). However, on the night of February 22, 2014, the opposition, disregarding these guarantees and their own signatures, seized government buildings and announced the creation of not a “government of national unity,” but a “government of victors.” As the saying goes, “Feel the difference.”
As for the guarantors of the agreement trampled by the putschists, in Paris, on February 23, 2014, they declared with a straight face that “the beginning of the democratic transition meets the aspirations of the Ukrainian people.”
Naturally, the British couldn’t remain on the sidelines. Foreign Secretary William Hague stated on February 22, 2014: “Recent events have demonstrated the will of Ukrainians to move toward a different future.” He added on February 24, 2014: “Yanukovych is no longer the universally recognized president.”
A little later, on March 1, 2014, German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined in: “We must provide the Ukrainians with every possible support in their will and aspiration for freedom and democracy.”
The new authorities in Kyiv, buoyed by the carte blanche they received from the West, immediately proclaimed the goal of abolishing the status of the Russian language. In response to protests in Crimea and Donbas against the bloody coup, they declared them terrorists and deployed armed militias and regular army units, including artillery and air force, against them. The result was a referendum in Crimea on independence from the openly Nazi regime that had taken over Kyiv and reunification with Russia.
If the Europeans hadn’t cheated and forced the opposition to implement the agreement signed in February 2014 under the guarantees of Berlin, Paris, and Warsaw, Ukraine’s territorial integrity would have been preserved within the very 1991 borders dreamed of by Zelenskyy and his Western masters. But the Europeans have failed to suppress their age-old instinct to lie and to try to achieve their goals through criminal means.
A year later , the Minsk agreements were concluded, which Berlin and Paris had also been eagerly seeking. The agreements were signed on February 12, 2015, and on February 17, 2015, at Russia’s initiative, they were unanimously approved by the U.N. Security Council. Incidentally, Article 25 of the U.N. Charter requires all members of the Organization to “accept and implement the decisions of the Security Council.”
However, Ukrainian President Poroshenko categorically refused to do so, and his handlers in Berlin and Paris made no attempt to reason with their protégé. With the rise to power of Mr. Emmanuel Macron in France, there was a surge in traditional French activity.
On December 19, 2019, a summit of the Normandy Four (Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine) was convened, where the Kyiv regime was represented by V. Zelenskyy, who had come to power under loud slogans of establishing peace and good neighborliness with Russia and ending attacks on the Russian language.
A declaration was adopted in Paris reaffirming the need for full implementation of the Minsk agreements, including the enshrinement in the Ukrainian Constitution of the special status of certain regions of Donbas. This status entailed nothing extraordinary — simply the right to use the Russian language and exercise local self-government.
If the 2015 Minsk agreements, confirmed in Paris in 2019 — now under Zelenskyy —had been implemented as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, Ukraine would now remain within the same 1991 borders, with the exception, of course, of Crimea, which has long been closed, as everyone understands.
However, Europe did not allow this. As Angela Merkel, François Hollande, and Poroshenko publicly admitted after their resignation, they had no intention of implementing the Minsk agreements they had signed; they needed to buy time to “pump” Ukraine full of weapons. Quite frankly. All meetings like the one in Paris were needed solely to simulate vigorous diplomatic activity and, under its cover, escalate the anti-Russian campaign.
Russia’s proposals for an agreement based on mutual respect for the security interests of Russia, Europe, and North America were arrogantly rejected in December 2021 by NATO and the Biden administration.
In practical terms, preparations were underway for Kyiv to seize territories of Donbas uncontrolled by force. To prevent the Western scenario from materializing, we were forced to launch a special military operation in February 2022.
Just a week later, the Ukrainians requested negotiations. We agreed. After several rounds in Belarus and Istanbul, the Ukrainian side proposed key principles for a settlement, which were accepted by our negotiators. Most importantly, they enshrined Ukraine’s neutral status, acknowledged the realities on the ground, and contained collective security guarantees that reliably guard against repeated violent provocations and attempts at aggression.
The document was initialed by the delegations of Ukraine and Russia, but its fate is well known. Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson forbade the Ukrainians from concluding a legally binding agreement based on the text proposed by Kyiv and already initialed, and ordered them to continue fighting. Europe essentially agreed with London’s position.
If that initialed agreement had been enshrined in a corresponding treaty and implemented, then Ukraine would again have remained within its 1991 borders, but without Crimea and part of Donbass.
The latest “Europe contribution to peace efforts” took place following the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska in August 2025. There, the Russian President, as he has repeatedly commented, accepted Washington’s proposals, which contained certain compromises.
The achievement of an agreement in principle was clearly announced at a joint press conference between the Russian and U.S. leaders in Anchorage, as well as in statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump in the following days.
Alarmed, Europe rushed to dissuade the U.S. President from his own initiative (just as B. Johnson forced the Ukrainians to withdraw their own proposals in Istanbul). A European landing force was immediately dispatched to Washington, and everything was done to stall further work on the practical implementation of the Anchorage agreements.
As a result, in June 2026, at the G7 summit in Evian and the NATO summit in Ankara, Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders proudly declared that they had “buried Anchorage” and that the United States now firmly stands with Ukraine.
During their recent visit to Moscow, S. Witkoff and J. Kushner confirmed Washington’s continued interest in facilitating a settlement in Ukraine. As U.S. President Donald Trump stated after their meeting in Anchorage in August 2025, everyone agrees that what’s needed is not just a ceasefire, but a long-term peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine that will reliably end the war.
Russia — and President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly confirmed this — is ready to negotiate precisely this kind of sustainable, just peace. The tasks that must be accomplished to achieve this goal were clearly outlined in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s keynote speech in June 2024.
However, having learned from bitter experience, we will not pause a special military operation during negotiations in any format. Although this is precisely what Europe wants — for the same simple purpose of gaining a respite and replenishing the depleted military arsenals of the Kyiv regime, which, out of desperation, has long since resorted to openly terrorist methods.
One of the objectives of the special military operation — in addition to unconditionally ensuring Russia’s security interests — is to fully respect the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people not only in Crimea, Donbas, and Novorossiya, but also in Ukraine, where, with Western approval, laws remain in force that completely ban the Russian language in all spheres — education, media, culture, and everyday life — as well as ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
These laws began to be passed long before the special military operation, in 2017. Europe and NATO remained silent.
At the same time, the encouragement of Nazi ideology and practice was enshrined in law. The apotheosis of the Nazification of Ukraine was the genuflection of V. Zelensky and other figures of his regime before the remains of Hitler’s collaborators, transported with royal honors from Europe for reburial in Kyiv.
Moreover, they plan to create a “pantheon of Ukrainian heroes” from these satanic graves on the grounds of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, sacred to all Orthodox Christians. It is sad that our former allies in the fight against Hitler’s Nazism turn a blind eye to such antics.
The West, and especially the European Union, loves to talk about human rights with or without reason. However, we don’t hear this phrase when it comes to the Kyiv regime. Russia insists on strict adherence to Article 1 of the U.N. Charter , which requires all to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
We understand that when it comes to gender, the Kyiv regime is more oriented toward Europe, but when it comes to language and religion, no amount of subterfuge will help. When we point out the unacceptability of the ban on the Russian language and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, we are, at best, told that when a comprehensive settlement is reached, this aspect will be taken into account “as part of the package.”
But the requirements of the U.N. Charter are not negotiable. They must be implemented unconditionally, without any strings attached. And those who nurture the Kyiv regime are obliged to ensure this. In reality, however, Ursula von der Leyen and other figures in Brussels and other European capitals pompously declare that Ukraine is moving toward the European Union and must continue to be supported with money and weapons because — pay attention: “Ukraine defends European values.”
This means that racism, the persecution of the church and priests, and the glorification of Nazism in the form of disgusting, brutal forms of Ukrainian nationalism are the very values ??upon which the European Union is based today. Finnish President Anders Stubb recently made a nostalgic confession: “We are now learning more from Ukraine than Ukraine is learning from us.”
Nowhere in the world except Ukraine is an entire language banned. Not to mention it’s one of the official languages ??of the U.N. You can speak Arabic and Farsi in Israel, Hebrew in any Arab country and in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where there’s a Jewish community with its own synagogues. You can even speak English in Ireland. But in Ukraine, Russian is banned, and as we understand, E.U. and NATO members are perfectly happy with this. They’re even following Zelenskyy’s example, as are the Baltic states.
And, of course, I cannot fail to mention the position of the custodian of the U.N. Charter — the Secretary-General of our Organization. For a long time, since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, he and his official representatives have been repeating the same message: “The conflict must be resolved on the basis of international law, the U.N. Charter, relevant General Assembly resolutions, and the principle of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
In response to our regular comments, including those addressed personally to Mr. Antonio Guterres, that the Charter contains a number of other principles, including the right of nations to self-determination and respect for the right to their native language and religion, we were told that the wording regarding Ukraine “has been carefully considered and is not subject to change.”
When President Donald Trump announced that Greenland could very well become part of the United States, a U.N. official was asked at a press conference what he thought about this. He replied: “The issue must be resolved on the basis of international law, the U.N. Charter, the principle of Denmark’s territorial integrity, and the right of the people of Greenland to self-determination.”
During a press conference on January 29, Antonio Guterres was asked, “Does the right to self-determination also apply to Crimea and Donbas?” The Secretary-General responded (I am forced to quote him in full):
“We have had very interesting discussions on this topic. There are two principles. One is the territorial integrity of states. The second is the self-determination of peoples. But self-determination of peoples presupposes a whole series of ‘requisites,’ given how this principle was formulated. And after a very thorough study of the legal issues by our Office, our position is that the principle of self-determination does not apply to the situations in Crimea and Donbas. Therefore, in this situation, the principle of territorial integrity prevails.”
If anyone understood any of this, then I envy you.
As we can see, Greenland is neither Crimea nor Donbas, and “the twain shall never meet.” We eagerly await the continuation of the “series.” It will be interesting to hear the Secretariat’s reaction to possible journalists’ questions about the plans of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
We hope that the new Secretary-General will bring the language of statements by official representatives of the Secretariat back into line with international law.
This could perhaps help Western colleagues, especially European ones, to return to reality and understand the consequences that their reckless course of blind support for Ukrainian Nazism is leading to and has already led to.
In conclusion, I would like to once again refer to the consensus Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
The Declaration clearly states that the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity apply to those states that adhere to the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and have a government representing all the people living in a given territory, without distinction as to race, religion, or color.
In my opinion, it is clear to everyone that the Kyiv regime cannot be considered a government representing the interests of the residents of Crimea, Donbas, and Novorossiya, whom it has declared “terrorists, non-humans, and creatures.”
Andrii Sybiha, Foreign Minister of Ukraine
Sybiha addresses council meeting on Ukraine, Sept. 23, 2026. (Forbes on YouTube)
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.
Mike Waltz, U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Walz at Security Council on Ukraine, Sept. 23, 2026. (Forbes on YouTube)
Thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting. And thank you, Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo, for your briefing.
Colleagues, yesterday—just a few rooms from here—President Trump stood before the world, stood before the General Assembly and?said again what he has said for the last four years: “the killing has to stop.”
It’s important what you did not hear him say. He did not say one side has to win, another side has to win. It’s not about winning. All sides are losing. All sides are losing, colleagues. The world is losing.
25,000 lost souls per month. At this point. Obviously, 25,000 too many. But every month that goes on—another 25,000—another 25,000.
And while so many in this room, in so many forums around the world, in Europe and other places—colleagues we could fill these rooms with speeches about peace.
The President is doing everything he can to actually broker that peace—in this conflict and some of the other forgotten, complicated, or far-flung conflicts. And, as he said yesterday, he is fully committed to facilitating peace in this war.
Over the last four and a half years, young men have been fed into trenches and killing fields by the tens of thousands. Families have buried sons, fathers, wives, sisters, children. Apartment buildings, hospitals, schools, ports, power have been destroyed and are being destroyed right now as we speak.
And this war?is spreading beyond the battlefield. Missiles and drone attacks threaten commercial shipping, Black Sea food grain exports—and are now threatening the world’s poorest families with famine. Strikes on energy infrastructure are raising costs far beyond Russia and Ukraine and into Africa, into Asia, and into the rest of the world.
Colleagues, the President has been clear since day one that the war has to stop.
We should note that the rhetoric in this Council and elsewhere have shifted to ending the war, which is a positive thing. But now we have violations of neighboring airspace, including NATO airspace, that create risks that no one in this room takes lightly.
And I want to be clear that we condemn, in the strongest terms, any attempts to broaden the war. We also condemn any attacks that threatens the free flow of food into global markets, and we join my colleague from Colombia, my colleagues from Panama, and others.
And we should talk about more. We should continue to talk about the recruiting of our nationals around the world as mercenaries, as fighters, whatever label you want to put on it, we should include in that the recruiting of the Cuban mercenaries that are now being pulled into this war—with full knowledge of the Cuban regime.
So, again, the spreading of this conflict is unacceptable. It is dangerous. And I appreciate many of the remarks and speeches today in supporting our efforts—hasn’t always been that way, frankly—but in supporting our efforts to try to end this war before it spreads out of control.
Colleagues, roughly a third of the world’s wheat supply stands in the balance now, as does the risk of famine for millions of the world’s most vulnerable should these disruptions continue.
So again, the message from President Trump is this: Don’t widen the war, recognize that there is no military solution to this war, and return to the negotiating table.
And there are areas of common ground, and particularly in energy security and food security, where we do think there could be some reasonable incremental steps towards peace.
But colleagues, we have to make the way for peace.
Special Envoys Witkoff and Kushner have been carrying that message directly to Kyiv, directly to Moscow. They have worked tirelessly at great personal cost and out of love for country and love for peace. And the United States is prepared to mediate, to facilitate trilateral talks, to use every diplomatic opening available to bring the parties together. And we welcome other efforts, we welcome efforts from India, from Türkiye, and from others to bring peace.
And we and our inexhaustible Special Envoys will keep showing up. We will keep talking. We will keep giving diplomacy a chance. And we will keep working until there is a path to a ceasefire, an end to the war, and a negotiated settlement. We know this is where this war has to land and how it has to end.
And just let me say this: As the President charges forward to bring peace between these countries, let’s take a moment and admire the example of First Lady Melania Trump, who has worked with both Russia and Ukraine to secure the return of children separated from their families by this war.
And I know you will agree with me that it is children who painfully suffer in any of these conflicts, and particularly this one. And her work is a reminder that even in the middle of a brutal war, when everything seems intractable, the two sides can do something, which, again, not too long ago was thought unthinkable. If she can set that example, I think there is hope and there is a path.
Both sides can still talk, and these children can come home. And if Russia and Ukraine can work to reunite children with their families, then they can sit across the table and begin the much harder work of ending this conflict.
Peace will require difficult choices from all sides. It will require compromise. It will require leaders to recognize that another 25,000 lives, just by the time we talk about this again—it’s completely, it’s just completely unacceptable.
President Trump and the United States government are doing our part. We hope and pray Russia and Ukraine will do theirs. Please, colleagues, let’s stop the killing and let’s make way for peace.
And I thank you.
Ed Miliband, British Foreign Secretary
Miliband addresses council meeting on Ukraine, Sept. 23, 2026. (Forbes on YouTube)
Thank you. And let me thank Under-Secretary-General DiCarlo for her briefing. And let me say clearly, to begin with, Foreign Minister Sybiha Andrii, the United Kingdom stands with Ukraine and its people, and we stand with you as long as it takes.
And more than four and a half years since the full scale invasion of Ukraine, we must be under no illusion. We are at this point because of Russia’s deliberate choices. Russia chose an illegal and unprovoked invasion. Russia chooses to escalate its war, and Russia chooses to reject efforts towards peace.
And we should all be under no illusions about what is at stake, because Russia’s attack is not just an attack on Ukraine, it is an assault on the core principles of the U.N. charter. It is an assault on us all. Sham elections in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory are just the latest demonstration of this. A blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
For all our sakes we cannot accept the changing of borders by force, and we cannot accept a world in which sovereignty can be trampled by aggressors. And of course, as others have said, no nation in this chamber is insulated from the consequences of this war. Russia’s war hurts our populations at home, Russian strikes on Black Sea ports and merchant shipping threaten global food supplies. And Russia, as my Danish colleague said, continues to pursue reckless hybrid activity, most recently, the outrageous attack at Leipzig Airport.
Let me be very clear the United Kingdom, Europe and NATO do not seek conflict with Russia. NATO is and always will be a defensive alliance, but we will continue to call out and act against Russia’s hostile activity, whatever form it takes.
That applies to Russian aggression against Ukraine just as strongly as it does to Russia’s unacceptable and intensifying hybrid threats across Europe.
President, Russia could choose a different course today, agree a ceasefire, come to the negotiating table and begin rebuilding a relationship based on sovereignty, international law and the U.N. charter. But that is not Russia’s chosen path.
This summer, Russia launched record numbers of ballistic missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities. Civilian casualties have tragically risen to the highest levels since 2022. We meet as Ukrainian civilians, and I think we should think of them today, brace for another hard, unbearable winter, another winter of anxiety under attack from missiles and drones.
Another winter when Russia will target energy and infrastructure to plunge Ukraine into cold and darkness. Russia’s own defence ministry has spoken of making Ukraine, and I quote, freeze.
That tells us all we need to know about its intentions here at the U.N., of all places. We cannot just shrug and normalize these barbarous and illegal tactics. Ukraine has repeatedly called for peace, offering a ceasefire and engaging constructively with U.S. led efforts. The principles for a credible negotiation remain clear a full and unconditional ceasefire, respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, robust security arrangements.
President, we will back Ukraine through the coming winter and beyond. We will increase economic pressure on Russia, and we will support serious diplomacy to reach a just and lasting peace. In closing, I want to address the Russian representative directly because the Foreign Minister will be speaking later. I know from my family history what it looks like when war ravages Europe.
My parents saw it as refugees from Poland and Belgium in the Second World War. We lost countless family members. Today, war has returned to Europe, the worst conflict since that time. Innocent civilians losing their lives. And why? Because Russia chose to launch this unjustified, unprovoked and illegal conflict. And even if morality doesn’t sway the Russian government, reality should, because we all know that Russia is failing in this war.
Four years ago, Putin sought to erase Ukraine’s independence, but Ukraine’s national resolve has proved to be unwavering. Four years ago, Putin expected Ukraine’s supporters to fold, but our backing is rock solid. Four years ago, Putin believed time would favour Russia, yet Russia’s advances have all but stalled, and the number of Russian military personnel killed or wounded has passed 1.5 million.
And on top of that, Russia’s economy is ailing, as the consequences of Putin’s choices mount and sanctions deprive the Kremlin war machine of revenues.
I say to the Russian representative, it is time ministers told President Putin the truth. The world knows that Russia is failing in this war. The Russian people can feel it and ministers know it too. They should tell President Putin to end the bloodshed.
And let me tell this truth. The U.K.’s commitment will not waver. Our allies commitment will not waver. We stand with Ukraine now. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
While it should be no surprise, I find it disgusting to watch the faces sitting behind the ambassadors who speak endlessly about support of international law while, in reality, they support the illegal and immoral actions ‘justified’ by the US, the UK, France, et al. The success of the US in reviving Russiaphobia is shameful. These ambassadors are among the privileged of their respective countries, of the world. They cannot be unaware of the facts, the provocations initiated/supported/financed/militarized by the US in the hope of destabilizing Russia and removing Putin from office. That so many, the majority of the Ambassadors already privileged, sitting in the seats of power at the UN continue to ponderously cloak their speeches, sprinkle throughout all the ‘correct’ words and phrases while completely ignoring the provocations, fully enabled and supported by the US and its European allies (UK, France, Germany etc) from day one, the coup that overthrew the democratically elected President of Ukraine, to the placement of US nuclear missile-launchers along the Ukrainian border facing toward Russia/Moscow. As these countries collectively have a long history of settler-colonial enterprises both undertaken and supported, this capacity to ignore facts, justify the unjustifiable should be no surprise. These countries have hundreds of years of practice and abuse of power.
Listen to Lavrov’s speech. I have followed the Ukraine situation from before the 2014 illegal coup. Lavrov told it the way it happened, he was not obfuscating. He showed how the US planned and financed the deadly coup (thank you Victoria Nuland). This whole evil Western designed disaster cannot be defended, not in any vaible way. It seems as though NATO is asking to be destroyed by hellfire! Sobeit, just leave the rest of thwe World out of it please!
The West and Ukrainian representatives did not deny Lavrov’s statement on Naziism in Ukraine.
This in itself is an admission of fact.
I believe world-wide it is generally agreed that the only good Nazi is a dead one.
The west, NATo and Ukraine want the door to remain open for Nazis, this is clear.
Why speak when those who can hear will not listen. The only solution is to finish the war. That is what the deaf want as well.
The nefarious west does not want to listen to the truth and accept the reality on the other end like the a fore mentioned regarding Russia. They can not cheat under the guise of freedom and democracy. Hence forth,the heinous west can not push its way through lies, deceit and manipulation as it did in Iraq, Libya and now Iran.There is so many truth in every corner far convincing and more acceptable than theirs. If they do not want to listen to that truth and continue with their entrenched modus operand of holier than you, arrogance and personification, the fire of truth which they hated most will engulf them irremediably.In this lumen of multi-polar world, the era of single and multi-tech. superiority has ended.Peace and peaceful-co existence prevails.
How right you are Fedaku.
I remember Putins address to his nation in which he made it exceptionally clear to everyone that the US US was behind the political changes in Ukraine, and NATO’s push to encircle Russia’s borders.
Whilst historically, Russia’s politicians have made some terrible decisions, one can’t dismiss comparing the US’s history since WW2.
Russia has shown a preference for peace over war, but the US has been the world’s transgressor, and only getting worse today.
I suspect that a good deal of Mr. Lavrov’s rhetoric here is sarcastic. But I do not see how this resolves without Russia grinding most of Ukraine into a paste.
Qui bono?
It is as if we just reverted to Napoleon era going toward Russia as a result of investing in the US revolution and finding themselves economically stressed so being forced to seek investment enlisting in the war between orthodox religious franchise infringements developed in Roman occupation of the Middle East ad round and round we go in religious based world of military woes defaming entire continents for strategic profit motives.
CN, thanks for this!
Where are the Chinese as permanent members of the SC?
Or did they give no comment?
You can read the Chinese statement from this meeting here, or watch in the video contained in the article.
hxxps://un.china-mission.gov.cn/eng/hyyfy/202609/t20260924_12030912.htm
I just read it and it was as expected.
Purely diplomatic, without a single word to indicate any support for either side.
Of course, I don’t see why China would even bother to say anything if they weren’t going to point out the obvious problem, being that yes, Russia struck first, but NATO caused it, knowing that so many of their member countries suffer economic downturns if there’s no wars, inparticular, the US.
The Western foreign policy establishment can’t accept their 500 year reign of global terror for profit is coming to an end. They speak in riddles so as not to be held to account for their criminal behavior. They are an embarrassment to their populations and themselves. This is the disease that infects the minds of those who are corrupted by addiction to wealth and power.
May life on this precious planet withstand the final days of colonial slavery and genocide so humanity can finally evolve to a higher state of being. Thank you Foreign Minister Lavrov for your honesty and integrity in the face of the insulting skullduggery of the Western powers. I don’t know how you manage it.
I am with Sergei Lavrov 100%. The claims by Ukraine and the west that Ukraine is a democracy are laughable. Ukraine is controlled by the inheritors of the Nazi philosophy of Stepan Bandera and others. Bandera and the OUN supported Adolf Hitler and his murderous genociders, killing Poles, Russians, socialists, Jews, and prisoners of war. They are in power right now, today. They are scum and filth.
Why did FDR call for an Unconditional Surrender? So that Nazi’s like Ukraine Nazi’s could never ever rearm and rise to power again. Why did you countermand that and rearm and bring to power Nazi’s again that DO NOT recognise the separation between the individual and state? Yours was a crime of aggression. All of you need to be arrested and put on trial for these criminal acts. FDR was right and you have proven wrong. It must be an Unconditional Surrender now.
Anyone who ‘stands’ with Ukraine is standing with Nazis.
The only hope for peace and the people of Ukraine is Russia. Russia will prevail.
Absolutely right.
Our Allied WWII heroes are turning in their graves from the horrible NATO and American disgraceful and insulting disrepect for their ultimate sacrifice to end Naziism in all its evil perversity. They died to destroy Nazism, preserve democracy and human rights. The current crop of demented NATO leaders are doing just the opposite. Not only is that not understandable, it is also remarkably foolish!
The Colonial Powers of Western Europe, most notably the U.K and France and now their descendants in the U.S, have terrorised the world for 500 years… just ask the indigenous people in the Americas, Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Now they’re doing it closer to home… they don’t know how to stop.
The Colonial Powers, most notably The U.K, are complicit in Israel’s campaign of terror and genocide in the middle east and now in the Ukraine/Russia war, and the Zionist war of aggression on Iran.
…and for the record, I’m of British decent. I’m not an angry Russian, or an angry Iranian, or an African or a victim of the genocidal Residential School system in Canada, where young indigenous children were sent, to be and raped and murdered.
You are correct except for your comment about residential schools in /canada. The system set up by earlier Canadian governments was solely meant to cancel Indigenous peoples’ rights to their own social and tribal community culture and to force assimilation on them. Many Indigenous children suffered terribly under that misbegotten scheme. Thses children suffered removal from their beloved parents and forced conversion of their tribal culture. I don’t believe they were murdered or raped as a deliberate policy of the schools. I do believe however that many died from disease and neglect when they should not have. The schools were derilect in their legal and moral duty to these children and indirectly to their parents So yes there is plenty of evidence of that!
Lavrov is spot on, the west is totally corrupt and should never be trusted as they will stab you in the back,
As for the Ukraine the scum running it have been installed by the US and the UK and EU, Genocide to them means nothing to them look how there are backing Israel and the evil they are
Thank you. I agree.
You are totally correct.
Past generations believed that the nations of the world could live in peaceful cooperation. Then Hitler arrived and torn the dream to pieces. For a while many of us believed in the dream again. But now many Hitlers have arrived and they are destroying our dream as well.
It’s becoming more obvious daily that Russia will have to react in a very forceful manner to these Western Idiots. Please just make it very forceful to put real fear into the place where their hearts used to reside.
They will only respect force so when Russia does use force on them -make it strong enough they won’t come back. Personally I think the uSA Cowards will stay out of it so its UK & France that need Hit Hard – the others are little dogs with FA teeth who will maybe murmur & whimper but not much else.
I totally agree Sir, thank you.
The West starts all the misery around the world.
Lucifer is pleased
Unfortunately you are completely right.
?The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, today laid out the facts leading to the war in Ukraine, making the West cover its ears and Ukraine to cover itself in shame?.
?The American UN Ambassador, Trump sycophant, and ex Special Forces Green Beret Mike Waltz, today parroted his propagandistic script with loyalist majesty and highly disciplined decorum, without drawing on his devout Episcopalian ethic and moral fibre to refer to the plight of thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children being distributed like pets to loyal Putinistas?
?The British UN Ambassador, Ed Miliband, today said very little very politely with gravatas; a very swift and impressive transition into British sophistry for a first generation Englishman?
Absolutely spot on, the western media never tells the truth re our evil proxy war.
A Polish couple visiting Ohio told me, those KIA are 1.8 million.
Not sure if they meant combined, or just Ukraine.
The gentleman also mentioned the bad blood between Ukraine + Poland going back to WWII
The “kidnapping” of Ukrainian children is a myth and a lie. These children were saved from death in a war zone! Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true.
great point, carolyn.
The people of the UK are fully aware that milliband is a drooling idiot. There is no gravitas there, just a gravy train for him saying the ‘right’ words.
I thought that the great majority of those children were Ethnic Russians removed from the Donbass area for safetly reasons due to the continued bombing and whom would be returned after the bombing stopped.
It’s so damn obvious the ultra dangerous game the West is playing against sovereign Russia.
With Washington know how and Euro drones and missiles the Ukes of course have been launching serious attacks on Russia proper and even recently they hammered Moscow, killing civilians. What the Russophobic Western elites are really hoping for is a forceful Russian retaliation against NATO territory. This act will then be used as a major talking point in a massive propaganda barrage toward the US and world public in order to get them to support even heavier attacks against innocent Russians.
The recklessness of all this is simply off the charts. The shamelessness of the Washington-Zio empire is limitless.
“The killing has to stop,” a fine and laudable sentiment by Trump
who also threatened to bomb Iran into oblivion.
Trump has to be stopped is more like it.
Trump should be removed from office and locked up in an insane asylum for the rest of his rotten life.