Selenskyj appeals to the global south to “force Russia to make peace” | Volodymyr Selenskyj

In a powerful speech to the UN Security Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on a broad alliance of nations to “force Russia to make peace.” He said Vladimir Putin had violated the foundations of the United Nations and that the war could not be “won through talks alone.”

Speaking before the council, of which Russia is a permanent member, Zelensky accused Moscow of committing “crimes under international law” with its attacks on Ukraine's civilian population and energy infrastructure. He also claimed that he had evidence that Putin was planning to attack three Ukrainian nuclear power plants to further damage the country's energy network.

After thanking Ukraine's allies for their support, the Ukrainian president appealed to countries further afield. He called on Brazil, India and countries in Africa and Latin America to increase pressure on Russia to end the war, saying: “All (countries) are equally important for peace, without exception.”

Many of these countries have economic or close diplomatic ties with Russia, lending increasing credence to Putin's claim that Russia was provoked into war by the West.

“We know that some people in the world want to talk to Putin,” Zelensky said. “To meet, to talk, to speak. But what could they hear from him? That he is angry because we are exercising our right to defend our people? Or that he wants to continue the war and terror just so that no one thinks he is wrong?”

He added: “It's crazy.”

Zelensky will travel to the White House later this week to meet with Joe Biden and discuss his “victory plan” – a roadmap for Ukraine to end the war with greater Western support. In his speech, he said further pressure was needed to make peace with Russia after it had done “things that cannot possibly be justified under the UN Charter.”

“That is why this war cannot be won through talks,” Zelensky said. “Action is needed… Putin has broken so many international laws and rules that he will not stop. Russia can only be forced to make peace, and that is exactly what is needed: to force Russia to make peace, although it is the only aggressor in this war, the only violator of the UN Charter.”

In an interview broadcast on ABC on Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine needs more support from the West to win the war, but acknowledged that the time for negotiations was near.

He has repeatedly called on the US and Britain to lift their restrictions on the use of long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia, despite concerns within the Biden administration that these attacks could lead to a further escalation of the war.

“I think we are closer to peace than we think,” Zelensky said in the interview. “We are closer to the end of the war. We just have to be very strong, very strong.”

“The plan for victory is to strengthen Ukraine. That is why we ask our friends, our allies, to strengthen us. This is very important.”

At the Security Council meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the body's priority must be to stop Russia's growing cooperation with Iran and North Korea. He accused both countries of supplying weapons that have enabled Russia to maintain its war in Ukraine and called on Security Council members to support a “just peace” that “upholds the principles of the UN Charter”.

Probably alluding to the proposal Zelensky wants to discuss with Biden, Blinken said Ukraine is “ready to start negotiations” to end the war.

Blinken said Iran has provided Russia with drones, ballistic missiles – including a shipment of hundreds of missiles earlier this month – and training in return for Russia sharing nuclear technology and “space intelligence.” But he did not specify what nuclear technology Russia has provided to Iran.

North Korea, Blinken said, had delivered “trainloads of weapons and munitions … including ballistic missiles and launchers, as well as millions of artillery shells.”

He also accused China, another permanent member of the Security Council, of being a “leading supplier of machine tools, microelectronics and other goods that Russia uses to rebuild, replenish and strengthen its war machine and sustain its brutal war.”

But Blinken described the war as a “textbook example” of the kind of security threat the council was set up to combat, giving little indication of how the White House plans to build a diplomatic coalition to end the war – especially since two Security Council members accused of fueling the war are also serving.