Madame la Présidente, Excellences,
La guerre menée la Russie en Ukraine ne montre aucun signe de répit.
Les sept derniers mois ont été marqués par une souffrance et une désolation indicibles.
Les évènements récents sont dangereux et alarmants.
Ils nous éloignent de toute perspective de paix – et nous rapprochent d’un cycle sans fin d’horreur et de carnage.
Je l’ai dit et je le répète : cette guerre insensée peut faire des dégâts infinis – en Ukraine et dans le reste du monde.
L'idée d'un conflit nucléaire, autrefois impensable est aujourd’hui évoquée par certains.
Rien que cela est totalement inacceptable. Tous les États dotés d'armes nucléaires devraient de nouveau s'engager à ne pas les utiliser et à les éliminer progressivement de leur arsenal.
Je suis également très préoccupé par des informations faisant état de plans visant à organiser de prétendus "referenda" dans des régions d'Ukraine qui ne sont actuellement pas sous le contrôle de son gouvernement.
Toute annexion du territoire d'un État par un autre État par la menace ou le recours à la force constitue une violation de la Charte des Nations unies et du droit international.
Madame la Présidente,
Des milliers de civils ukrainiens, dont des centaines d’enfants, ont été blessés ou tués, la plupart par des bombardements russes dans des zones urbaines.
Chaque jour, en moyenne, cinq enfants sont tués ou blessés. Presque tous les enfants d’Ukraine sont traumatisés par le cauchemar de la guerre, exposés à des violences ou séparés de leur famille.
Quelque 14 millions de personnes, dont une majorité de femmes et d’enfants, ont dû fuir.
La situation ne peut qu’empirer, alors que l’hiver approche et que les approvisionnements en gaz et en électricité s’amenuisent.
Au niveau mondial, ce conflit a provoqué une triple crise, alimentaire, énergétique et financière, qui a précipité des millions de personnes supplémentaires dans l’extrême pauvreté et la faim, réduisant à néant des années de progrès vers le développement et [faisant] suite aux crises du COVID et de l’impact croissant du changement climatique.
Les dommages collatéraux de cette guerre se font sentir dans des dizaines de pays en développement qui peinaient déjà à se relever de la pandémie de COVID-19 et à faire face à la crise climatique.
Les plus vulnérables sont les premiers touchés.
L’ONU travaille sans relâche pour pleinement exploiter toute opportunité d’atténuer les souffrances, notamment lors de mes déplacements en Ukraine, en Fédération de Russie et dans la région, et dans le cadre de mes échanges directs avec le Président Zelenskyy et le Président Poutine.
Ensemble avec nos partenaires humanitaires sur le terrain, nous sommes venus en aide à près de 13 millions de personnes dans le besoin.
Il est essentiel que le personnel humanitaire puisse intervenir en toute sécurité et sans entraves auprès de tous ceux qui ont besoin d’aide, où qu’ils soient.
Madame President,
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has been documenting the unacceptable impact of this war on human rights.
The reports are a catalogue of cruelty: summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war. The latest accounts of burial sites in Izyum are extremely disturbing.
All these allegations must be thoroughly investigated, to ensure accountability.
Perpetrators must be held to account in fair and independent judicial proceedings. Victims and their families have a right to justice, remedy and reparation.
Ending impunity for international crimes is fundamental.
In all this, the International Criminal Court plays an important role to ensure effective accountability.
The Prosecutor of the Court has opened an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. Full cooperation with the court by all parties is essential.
Madame President,
The Fact-Finding Mission I established following the tragic incident at the detention facility in Olenivka on 29 July is ready to deploy as soon as all necessary assurances are received.
The Mission must have safe, secure and unfettered access to all relevant places and people, and to all relevant evidence, without any limitation, impediment or interference.
Madame President,
The situation at the site of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – located in the middle of a war zone – remains a cause of grave concern.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is consulting with all parties involved on measures to ensure the safety of the plant and surrounding areas. I thank the IAEA for its work. Its continued presence at the plant is an important deterrent.
All attacks on nuclear facilities must end, and the purely civilian nature of such plants must be re-established.
Any damage to nuclear infrastructure, whether deliberate or not, could have terrible consequences for people around the plant and far beyond.
The world cannot afford a nuclear catastrophe.
Madame President,
Yesterday’s news that more than 250 prisoners of war were exchanged between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was a welcome development. I commend the efforts of both parties and hope that they will build on this with further exchanges aiming at an “all for all” formula.
I thank the Governments of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia for its role in securing this agreement.
In July, also with the support of the Government of Türkiye, a landmark deal was reached enabling the resumption of food and fertilizer exports from three of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
More than 4.3 million metric tonnes of food have since been moved, bound for 29 countries across three continents. This includes three vessels chartered by the World Food Progamme to transport desperately needed food supplies for the people of Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Yemen. A fourth left Istanbul today, and a fifth is on the way.
Since the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, global food prices have dropped sharply, although they are still almost 8 percent higher than a year ago.
It is vital that these food shipments continue and increase, so commodity markets further stabilize.
The United Nations also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation on the full access of Russian food and fertilizer products, including ammonia, to global markets.
We are doing everything possible to facilitate this, and to ease the serious fertilizer market crunch that is already affecting farming in West Africa and elsewhere.
If the fertilizer market is not stabilized, next year could bring a food supply crisis. Simply put, the world may run out of food.
It is essential that all States remove every remaining obstacle to the export of Russian fertilizers immediately. We need to get them to farmers at a reasonable cost, and on to fields as soon as possible.
Another major concern is the impact of high gas prices on the production of nitrogen fertilizers. This must also be addressed without delay.
Madame la Présidente,
La seule façon de mettre fin aux souffrances en Ukraine, c’est de mettre fin à la guerre.
Je continuerai de faire tout mon possible pour la paix – une paix fondée sur le respect du droit international et de la Charte des Nations Unies.
Et j’appelle tous les États membres, en particulier ceux qui sont présents ici aujourd’hui, à redoubler d’efforts pour empêcher une nouvelle escalade et à faire tout ce qui est en leur pouvoir pour mettre un terme à la guerre et assurer une paix durable.
Je vous remercie.
[all-English]
Russia's war in Ukraine shows no sign of letting up.
The past seven months have seen unspeakable suffering and devastation.
The latest developments are dangerous and disturbing.
They are further steps away from any prospect of peace – and towards an endless cycle of horror and bloodshed.
As I have said from the start, this senseless war has unlimited potential to do terrible harm – in Ukraine, and around the world.
The idea of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, has become a subject of debate.
This in itself is totally unacceptable. All nuclear-armed states should recommit to the non-use and progressive elimination of nuclear weapons.
I am also deeply concerned by reports of plans to organize so-called “referenda” in areas of Ukraine that are currently not under government control.
Any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the UN Charter and of international law.
Madame President,
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed and injured, mostly by Russian bombardment of urban areas.
Every day, an average of five children are killed or injured. Almost every child in Ukraine has been scarred by the nightmare of war, from violence to family separation.
Some 14 million people have been forced to flee, the majority of them women and children.
The situation will only get worse with winter approaching, and gas and electricity supplies dwindling.
At the global level, the conflict has supercharged a triple crisis of food, energy and finance. This is driving millions more people into extreme poverty and hunger, and reversing years of progress on development, and follows the COVID crisis and the growing impact of climate change.
The collateral damage of this war is being felt in dozens of developing countries already grappling with recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and battered by the climate crisis.
The most vulnerable are suffering most.
The United Nations is working to maximize every opportunity to alleviate suffering, including through my visits to Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the region, and my direct engagement with President Zelenskyy and President Putin.
Together with our humanitarian partners on the ground, we have provided aid to nearly 13 million people in need.
It is essential that humanitarian workers have safe and unhindered access to all those requiring assistance, wherever they may be.
Madame President,
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has been documenting the unacceptable impact of this war on human rights.
The reports are a catalogue of cruelty: summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war. The latest accounts of burial sites in Izyum are extremely disturbing.
All these allegations must be thoroughly investigated, to ensure accountability.
Perpetrators must be held to account in fair and independent judicial proceedings. Victims and their families have a right to justice, remedy and reparation.
Ending impunity for international crimes is fundamental.
In all this, the International Criminal Court plays an important role to ensure effective accountability.
The Prosecutor of the Court has opened an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. Full cooperation with the Court by all parties is essential.
Madame President,
The Fact-Finding Mission I established following the tragic incident at the detention facility in Olenivka on 29 July is ready to deploy as soon as all necessary assurances are received.
The Mission must have safe, secure and unfettered access to all relevant places and people, and to all relevant evidence, without any limitation, impediment or interference.
Madame President,
The situation at the site of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – located in the middle of a war zone – remains a cause of grave concern.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is consulting with all parties involved on measures to ensure the safety of the plant and surrounding areas. I thank the IAEA for its work. Its continued presence at the plant is an important deterrent.
All attacks on nuclear facilities must end, and the purely civilian nature of such plants must be re-established.
Any damage to nuclear infrastructure, whether deliberate or not, could have terrible consequences for people around the plant and far beyond.
The world cannot afford a nuclear catastrophe.
Madame President,
Yesterday’s news that more than 250 prisoners of war were exchanged between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was a welcome development. I commend the efforts of both parties and hope that they will build on this with further exchanges aiming at an “all for all” formula.
I thank the Governments of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia for its role in securing this agreement.
In July, also with the support of the Government of Türkiye, a landmark deal was reached enabling the resumption of food and fertilizer exports from three of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
More than 4.3 million metric tonnes of food have since been moved, bound for 29 countries across three continents. This includes three vessels chartered by the World Food Progamme to transport desperately needed food supplies for the people of Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Yemen. A fourth left Istanbul today, and a fifth is on the way.
Since the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, global food prices have dropped sharply, although they are still almost 8 percent higher than a year ago.
It is vital that these food shipments continue and increase, so commodity markets further stabilize.
The United Nations also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation on the full access of Russian food and fertilizer products, including ammonia, to global markets.
We are doing everything possible to facilitate this, and to ease the serious fertilizer market crunch that is already affecting farming in West Africa and elsewhere.
If the fertilizer market is not stabilized, next year could bring a food supply crisis. Simply put, the world may run out of food.
It is essential that all States remove every remaining obstacle to the export of Russian fertilizers immediately. We need to get them to farmers at a reasonable cost, and on to fields as soon as possible.
Another major concern is the impact of high gas prices on the production of nitrogen fertilizers. This must also be addressed without delay.
Madame President,
There is only one way to end the suffering in Ukraine – and that is by ending the war.
I will continue to spare no effort for peace – peace in line with international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
And I appeal to all Member States, and especially those here today, to redouble all efforts to prevent further escalation, and to do all they can to end the war and to ensure lasting peace.
Thank you.