President Volodymyr Zelensky made his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday – emphasizing the inability of international institutions alone to protect peace and uphold international law.
Attendance of his speech looked sparse compared to US President Donald Trump’s address on Tuesday, with many of the seats in the UN assembly hall left empty.
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A breakdown of the international rules-based order?
The president began by emphasizing the failure of international organisations (including the UN) to address the world’s current challenges.
“The 21st century isn’t much different than the past. If a nation wants peace, it still has to work on weapons. It’s sick but that’s the reality, not international law, not cooperation – weapons decide who survives.”
His comments seemed to echo those of Trump, who lambasted the UN for inaction and “empty words” during his address on Tuesday – and who, also on Tuesday, acknowledged for the first time that Ukraine cannot secure peace by conceding territory to Russia.
Zelensky pointed to the international community’s previous failures to protect countries such as Georgia and Belarus from Russian aggression and influence.
Russia invaded and illegally occupied parts of Georgia in 2008, with the rest of the country now governed by the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party. Belarus is ruled by dictator Alexander Lukashenko (believed by many to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s puppet.)
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Zelensky then stressed that the EU must help Moldova – which will elect its new parliament on Sept. 28 in the shadow of a Russian plot to destabilize the country – with more than just words.
“Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova too,” Zelensky said – adding that Russia is poised to do to Moldova “what Iran did to Lebanon.”
Zelensky also mentioned the Taliban, who he credits with dragging Afghanistan “back to the dark ages,” and the influence of criminal cartels in some Latin American countries.
“This is all about the collapse of international law and the weakness of the international institutions – and so it’s about the rise of weapons. Weapons decide who survives,” he repeated.
“Even being part of a longstanding military alliance doesn’t automatically mean you’re safe,” Zelensky said, citing Russia’s repeated violations of NATO airspace in recent weeks.
A new arms race?
Another point that the president emphasized again and again is how recent conflicts – particularly Russia’s war in Ukraine – have led to the rapid development of new weapons, particularly drones.
“It used to be that only the strongest countries could use drones because they were expensive and complex. Now even simple drones can fly thousands of kilometers. War technology doesn’t care about geography anymore, it’s now reshaping it.”
Zelensky reminded those in attendance that flights from Copenhagen and Oslo airports were grounded at the weekend after drone sightings – and that the Dutch and Norwegian authorities are still unable to say what kind of drones they were, who sent them, or from where.
“Ukrainians and countries like Saudi Arabia know all too well how dangerous Iranian attack drones are, but what happens when all these kinds of drones become available even to small terrorist groups and cartels. The world moves too slowly to protect itself and weapons move fast.”
Zelensky announced that Ukraine has decided to not only increase its defense industry but begin arms exports to other countries, adding that Ukraine is ready for “our modern weapons to become your modern security.”
“These are powerful systems tested in a real war when every international institution failed.”
He also called for new global rules on how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in weapons, pointing out that no one could have imagined Russia’s use of simple, mass produced drones to create “death zones” – areas in Ukraine which are completely devoid of human life – ten years ago.
“Dear leaders, we are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history,” the president said.
A new pragmatism
Zelensky’s address appealed to the self-interest of world leaders as much as it did to the principles of the UN charter.
“The facts are simple – stopping this war now, and with it the global arms race, is cheaper than building underground kindergartens or underground bunkers for critical infrastructure later. Stopping Putin now is cheaper than trying to protect every port and every ship from terrorists with sea drones. Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead,” he told them.
Although he acknowledged that the US, as well as the G7 and the G20 countries have the largest role to play, the president appealed to every UN country to condemn Russia’s war both in word and deed.
“War has already reached too many people to pretend it has nothing to do with you. So it depends on you whether you help peace or you continue trading with Russia.”