Russia Ukraine war: UNGA chief calls for immediate ceasefire, full return to diplomacy
India Today
President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire and a full return to diplomacy and dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia's military offensive is a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid said on Monday as he called for an immediate ceasefire and full return to diplomacy and dialogue.
Shahid, presiding over a rare emergency special session of the 193-member UN body on Ukraine, voiced grave concern about the fast-deteriorating situation and ongoing military action in Ukraine.
"The military offensive by the Russian Federation is a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and is inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Today, I renew my call for an immediate ceasefire; for all parties to exercise maximum restraint; and for a full return to diplomacy and dialogue,” Shahid, President of the 76th session of the UNGA, said.
As Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko hosted the first face-to-face talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegation since Russia’s special military operation in eastern Ukraine, Shahid said this “rare window of opportunity” has opened up for dialogue. “Let’s use this opportunity to meaningfully and rapidly de-escalate the situation.”
A day after the 15-nation UN Security Council voted to refer the Russia-Ukraine crisis to an emergency session of the General Assembly, the most representative body of the United Nations convened the rare emergency session on Russia’s military operation against Ukraine, only the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950.
With the adoption of the UNSC resolution on Sunday, it was for the first time in 40 years that the Council decided to call for an emergency special session in the General Assembly.
Shahid said the convening of the 11th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, rooted in the Charter and mandated in resolution entitled ‘Uniting for peace’, is a new opportunity to ensure that the leadership of the United Nations is up to the expectation of the people “we serve on matters related to peace and security.”
