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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s decision to mobilize some reservists showed Moscow was not serious about talks to end the war.
Addressing a meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly by video hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement, Zelensky insisted that his country would be instrumental in repelling a Russian attack and forcing the withdrawal of its troops. to win.
“We can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do that with force,” the president said. “But we need time.”
Putin’s decree on Wednesday on the partial mobilization did not elaborate. Officials said as many as 300,000 reservists could be used. It was an apparent attempt to seize momentum after Ukraine launched a counteroffensive this month to retake large swathes of territory occupied by the Russians.
But Russia’s first such call-up since World War II has also given Russians a new way to bring the fight home and has the potential to fuel domestic anxiety and antipathy to the war.
Outbound flights quickly filled up shortly after Putin’s announcement, and hundreds of people were arrested at anti-war demonstrations across the country.
A day earlier, Russian-controlled parts of eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia. The Ukrainian leader and its Western allies consider the vote illegal.
Mr Zelensky did not discuss the developments in detail. But he suggested that any Russian talk about talks was just a delaying tactic and that Moscow’s actions speak louder than words.
“They talk about talks but announce military mobilization. They talk about talks but announce a pseudo-referendum in the occupied territory of Ukraine,” he said.
Mr. Zelensky appears as he has in many of his previous videos – in an olive green T-shirt. He was seated at a table with a Ukrainian flag on his right shoulder and the United Nations flag and a large image of Ukraine on his left shoulder. He appears to be in a conference room.
He believes that Moscow wants to spend the winter preparing its troops in Ukraine for a new offensive, or at least fortifications while mobilizing more troops.
“Russia wants war. It’s true. But Russia will not be able to stop the course of history,” he said, declaring that “humanity and international law are stronger than what he calls a “terrorist state.”
The war, Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II, dominated global rallies.
Given the circumstances, Zelensky was not on the podium where other presidents, prime ministers and monarchs spoke at the most important annual gathering of international diplomacy. Instead, he got an exception for speaking via video.
He laid out various “preconditions for peace” in Ukraine, sometimes involving broader prescriptions for improving global order, and he urged world leaders to strip Russia of its veto power in international institutions and the UN Security Council, saying aggressors need to be punished and isolated.
The fighting has already prompted UN agencies to take some action against Russia. The move angered a number of other countries and led to action this spring at a broader assembly with a non-binding resolution but no veto power.
The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in March to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine, calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all Russian troops, and urging the protection of millions of civilians.
Next month, smaller but still dominant members voted to suspend Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council.
But as a permanent member of its most powerful entity, the Security Council, Russia was able to veto calls to stop attacks on Ukraine days after it began.
Mr Zelensky’s speech was one of the most anticipated at this year’s gathering on his country’s war. But this isn’t the first time a first president has been in the spotlight at Parliament’s annual meeting of presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and foreign ministers.
At last year’s UN General Assembly meeting, Mr Zelensky memorably likened the UN to “a retired superhero who has long forgotten how great he was” as he renewed his call for action against Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Kerry The Mia Peninsula and its support for separatists.
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