Global Leaders At UN General Assembly Call For Peace In Ukraine

Leaders from fifty countries are calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict at the U.N. General Assembly.

by Nicolas J. S. Davies and Medea Benjamin, The Progressive

The United Nations General Assembly began its seventy-eighth annual session in New York City on September 5. The session will continue through the end of the year. The first two weeks are known as the “High Level” sessions, this year bringing together leaders from 191 countries to address the body on various topics.

Similar to last year, discussions at the General Assembly include what role the United Nations and its members should play in the crisis in Ukraine. The United States and its allies still insist that the U.N. Charter requires countries to take Ukraine’s side in the conflict, “for as long as it takes” to restore Ukraine’s pre-2014 internationally recognized borders.

They claim to be enforcing Article 2:4, which states, “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”

By their reasoning, Russia violated this rule by invading Ukraine, making any compromise or negotiated settlement unconscionable, regardless of the consequences of prolonging the war.