The Council meets today because Russia continues to choose escalation over peace.
Since we last met, Russia has launched not one but two massive attacks on Ukraine, with devastating consequences for civilians.
This past weekend, Russia launched 351 drones and 68 missiles against Ukraine, primarily targeting Kyiv.
At least 26 civilians were killed. More than 120 injured.
This is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a deliberate and escalating campaign of long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities.
Russia has now launched five mass strikes involving 70-plus missiles since 23 May.
Before that, we had only seen a single such strike in the previous year.
These are not just numbers.
They represent apartment blocks shattered in the middle of the night, families forced into shelters, children woken by air raid sirens, and civilians killed and injured in their own homes.
Behind every missile and drone is a conscious decision by Russia to bring its war deeper into Ukrainian cities, inflicting fear, trauma, and suffering on millions of people.
But to what end?
No one can mistake these as actions of a state seeking peace.
They are the actions of a state prolonging war.
War which has failed to achieve Putin’s imperialistic ambitions and that fails to substantiate false narratives, as we again heard today, used to justify such devastation.
Russia speaks half-heartedly of negotiations while intensifying its attacks.
It claims to want security while violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbour.
Every member of this Council is calling for fighting to stop, but Russia refuses to listen.
This escalation will not bring peace.
More civilian casualties will not bring a sustainable settlement.
President, after five years in the Council, this will be my last meeting.
And I thank colleagues for their partnership as I have rotated around this table four times in 60 months, wrestling with conflict and crises from Africa and the Middle East, to Asia and Latin America.
For four and a half of those years, our work here has taken place in the shadow of Russia’s brazen, illegal war against Ukraine.
In January 2022, I warned that “any Russian invasion or act of aggression against Ukraine would be a gross breach of international law and Russia’s commitments under the Charter.”
That conflict “would result in terrible bloodshed and destabilise the entire international community.”
And it would lead to “Civilians caught in the crossfire… Families grieving the loss of fallen soldiers on both sides.”
At the time, the Russian representative denied any plans to invade.
He called Western warnings of a Russian attack “hysterical” and “provocative.”
As tanks rolled into Ukraine on 24 February in the so-called military operation, a phrase I again heard used today, Putin said “We are not going to impose anything on anyone.”
So here we are, four and a half years later. Ukrainian sovereignty violated, and territory occupied. Over 65 thousand Ukrainian civilian casualties. 1.4 million Russian soldiers dead or injured.
Nations across the world are calling for a ceasefire to end this senseless war.
All members of this Council have called for de-escalation, and yet Russia refuses.
The way forward is clear.
Russia must stop its attacks, agree to a ceasefire, and engage seriously in negotiations for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, in line with the UN Charter.
As has been the case from day one, bringing an end to this senseless slaughter is entirely in Russia’s hands.