Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya speaks during the 11th emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. February 28, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
UNITED NATIONS 鈥� The 193-member United Nations General Assembly began meeting on the crisis in Ukraine on Monday ahead of a vote this week to isolate Russia by deploring its 鈥渁ggression against Ukraine鈥� and demanding Russian troops stop fighting and withdraw.
The General Assembly will vote this week on a draft resolution similar to a text vetoed by Russia in the 15-member Security Council on Friday. No country has a veto in the General Assembly and Western diplomats expect the resolution, which needs two-thirds support, to be adopted.
While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they carry political weight. The United States and allies see action at the United Nations as a chance to show that Russia is isolated because of its invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The draft resolution already has at least 80 co-sponsors, diplomats said on Monday. More than 100 countries are due to speak before the General Assembly votes.
French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said: 鈥淣o one can avert their gaze, abstention is not an option.鈥�
Ceasefire talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials failed to make a breakthrough on Monday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the talks would 鈥減roduce not only an immediate halt to the fighting, but also a path towards a diplomatic solution.鈥�
He described Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 decision on Sunday to put Russia鈥檚 nuclear deterrent on high alert as a 鈥渃hilling development,鈥� telling the General Assembly that nuclear conflict is 鈥渋nconceivable.鈥�
Ukraine鈥檚 U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya described Putin鈥檚 order to put Russian nuclear forces on alert as 鈥渕adness.鈥�
鈥淚f he wants to kill himself he doesn鈥檛 have to use a nuclear arsenal, he has to do what the guy in Berlin did in a bunker in 1945,鈥� Kyslytsya told the General Assembly, referencing Adolf Hitler鈥檚 suicide.
Guterres also warned about the impact of the conflict on civilians and said it could become Europe鈥檚 worst humanitarian and refugee crisis in decades.
鈥淎lthough Russian strikes are reportedly largely targeting Ukrainian military facilities, we have credible accounts of residential buildings, critical civilian infrastructure and other non-military targets sustaining heavy damage,鈥� he said.
Russia鈥檚 U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Russia鈥檚 actions in Ukraine were being 鈥渄istorted.鈥� He told the General Assembly: 鈥淭he Russian army does not pose a threat to the civilians of Ukraine, is not shelling civilian areas.鈥�
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a 鈥渟pecial operation鈥� that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor鈥檚 military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths briefed the U.N. Security Council later on Monday on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. France has said it plans to put forward a draft council resolution on aid access and the protection of civilians.
鈥淭he scale of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, even in these very early days, is alarming,鈥� Griffiths told the council. 鈥淐ivilian children, women and men have been injured and killed.鈥�
U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said the U.N. agency is planning for up to 4 million refugees in the coming days and weeks.