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President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on its second day Tuesday, reminding the world his country was one of the 41 founding members of the body in 1945.
He wasted little time before launching into an attack on Russia, which Poroshenko accuses of funding and fueling a war against Ukraine. He also maintains that Russia illegally annexed the Crimea region, which held a referendum in 2014 where 96 percent of voters chose to reunify with Russia.
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In spite of recent claims levied against Ukraine for the rise in extreme-right violence, as well as a crackdown on freedom of speech, Poroshenko implied that Russia is at the heart of all of the country's problems, calling the country "terrorists and occupiers."
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Referring to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine, where two regions are controlled by pro-Russia rebels wanting to break away from Kiev's control, Poroshenko alleged that the problems in his country is "not a civil war nor an internal conflict,” but the result of a "reckless game" played by Russia in a "desire to return to imperial times."
“Today, there is no doubt that this is an aggressive war against Ukraine,” Poroshenko said.
The international community has failed to provide proof that the Kremlin is funding the separatists, but Poroshenko says this is because Russian soldiers take off military identification and use “mobile crematoriums” to get rid of bodies. “But the Kremlin goes further,” Poroshenko warned, saying that Russia is now in Syria, so, “What, or who comes next?”
More than 8,000 Ukrainians, including 6,000 civilians, have been killed in the conflict so far. There are over 1.5 million internally displaced people. In order to put an end to the fighting, an agreement was reached in Minsk in September.
“Ukraine is committed to follow the letter and the spirit of the Minsk deal,” Poroshenko claimed during his speech.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday at the General Assembly, refuting claims that Russia is expansionist and maintaining that the real threat is the Western NATO alliance and its ambitions. “NATO continues expanding,” he said.
Putin also said that adhering to the September 2015 Minsk agreements will be key to solutions in Ukraine. He also said that unrest in Ukraine was fueled by foreign intervention, specifically pointing to the coup that ousted Viktor Yanukovich in 2014, which sparked a series of events that provoked much of the violence in the east of the country.
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The Ukrainian chief repeatedly drew attention to Russia’s presence as a permanent member on the U.N. security council. He called for the modernization of the Security Council.
“The membership should represent the reality of the 21st century,” Poroshenko said, adding that more attention should be given to Eastern European, African, Asian and Latin American states.
During his speech, Poroshenko said his administration is committed to human rights, despite his recent crackdown on journalists. Ukraine expanded its list of sanctioned journalists and organizations, now banned from the country and referred to as “terrorists.” Some 900 individuals have now found a place on Ukraine’s blacklist, including BBC journalists. Among those banned are Russians and separatists, but also 34 journalists from European countries like Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, who allegedly made contact with rebels during the independence referendum and subsequent vote on Crimea joining Russia as a federal state.
Poroshenko admitted that due to the conflict, his country is on the brink of an environmental disaster.
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