STATEMENT
by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine H.E. Mariana BETSA
at the 11th Emergency special session of the UN General Assembly
24 February 2026
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Today, this Assembly meets at a moment of profound historical significance for Ukraine. We are entering the fifth year since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale military invasion of my country, and twelve years since the beginning of its unprovoked armed aggression started with the illegal temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sevastopol and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
No country in modern history has endured an attack of such scale, intensity, and duration — a war waged so relentlessly and for so long against its people, its cities, and its very existence.
Russia’s war of aggression has shattered peace in Europe and struck at the very core of the United Nations Charter and the fundamental principles of international law — sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the prohibition of the use of force.
Russia’s war of aggression is imperial and neo-colonial in nature. It is rooted in distorted geopolitical narratives and sustained by propaganda. In the Kremlin’s worldview, Ukraine — a sovereign State of 604,000 square kilometers and 42 million people — was to be reduced to a satellite within a so-called “sphere of influence.”
Russia miscalculated gravely in 2014 when it started its aggression. Russia miscalculated gravely in 2022 when it started its full-scale invasion. Russia miscalculated gravely now in February 2026 thinking that Ukraine would collapse.
Russia will not succeed.
Ukraine resists and stands firmly.
Ukraine defends itself — and others — from Russian imperialism. And Ukraine will continue the fight to restore a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
We are not alone and we appreciate the broad solidarity in our pursuit of peace. However, despite ongoing peace efforts led by the United States and supported by Europe, the Russian Federation continues to demonstrate no genuine willingness to end its war of aggression.
Just throughout one single week – from 8 to 15 February 2026, Russia launched about 1300 attack drones, more than 1200 guided aerial bombs, and 50 missiles against Ukraine – almost all of them ballistic.
Ukraine has shown clear and good-faith readiness to pursue peace, including through compromises that are extraordinarily difficult for us — such as accepting the cessation of hostilities along the current line of contact.
Yet the Kremlin’s position remains unchanged: it demands that Ukraine withdraw from its own sovereign territory so that Russia may occupy it. This is not a question of negotiating “red lines.” The sovereignty and territorial integrity of a Member State are foundational principles of the United Nations Charter and would constitute a red line for any State represented in this Assembly.
These four years have come at an immense and tragic cost to the Ukrainian people. Unable to achieve its strategic objectives on the battlefield, and too weak to secure decisive gains at the front, the Russian Federation has turned its aggression directly against civilians. It has launched not merely a campaign of strikes, but a deliberate war of terror — a real hunt for Ukrainian lives.
Thousands of civilians have been killed. Millions have been forced to flee their homes. Since this General Assembly last convened on 24 February 2025, one year ago, Russia has sharply intensified its systematic campaign of terror against the civilian population. Residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and critical infrastructure are deliberately and repeatedly targeted.
Ukrainian cities — Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and many others — are subjected to daily, large-scale missile and drone attacks.
Every morning, Ukrainians wake to air-raid sirens. Every night, families go to sleep not knowing whether they will survive until morning.
Entire cities — Mariupol, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and many others — have been devastated. Residential neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble.
Energy infrastructure has been deliberately and repeatedly targeted, particularly during the winter months. Russia has turned cold into a weapon — striking power plants and energy networks with the explicit aim of leaving civilians without electricity, heating, and water in freezing temperatures. This winter, Russian terror reached a critical point.
Yesterday, New York City declared a state of emergency due to severe weather conditions. Now imagine snowstorms and extreme cold compounded by deliberate attacks on power stations and transmission grid. Imagine your apartments have no heating, electricity, and running water for weeks, as new attacks on energy infrastructure continue unabated. That’s how residents of Kyiv and many other Ukrainian cities have spent this winter. This is not collateral damage. This is not a military strategy gone wrong. This is a deliberate Russian state policy: the weaponization of winter, darkness, and cold to break a nation by destroying its will to resist. We are grateful for the energy assistance we have received from across the globe. It has helped us maintain and strengthen our resilience.
On the frontline, where the Ukrainian Forces have regained 400 square km since January. Across the country, in cities and villages far from the frontline, where, to the sounds of fuel generators, stores and industries continued to operate, medical and other essential services were delivered, and emergency responders worked tirelessly to eliminate the consequences of yet another Russian attack.
At the same time, resilience comes at a heavy price.
Dozens of thousands of Ukrainians were killed and wounded. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced. Millions were forced to leave their homes. Thousands of our defenders and ordinary civilians remain in captivity in Russia or in occupied Ukrainian territories. They are subjected to torture and inhuman treatment. Contrary to all norms and customs of war, Russia subjects them to prosecution in its so-called courts. Countless families continue to search for their loved ones who went missing.
Andrii Khymeniuk was 17 years old when his family found themselves in the sights of Russian occupiers in the village of Novonataliivka, in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
On 11 June 2022, FSB agents broke into their home and abducted his mother, accusing her of assisting the Ukrainian military. They demanded the keys to neighboring houses whose owners had fled. “I’m taking her for a few days,” one of the occupiers said. She was never seen again.
The following day, they took Andrii’s father. Ammunition was planted to fabricate charges. He was forced to record a so-called confession. “We will beat you in front of your children,” they threatened before taking him away to an unknown location.
Andrii and his younger brother, Oleh, were left alone.
The FSB then pressured Andrii to cooperate — to inform on pro-Ukrainian neighbors. Threatened at gunpoint and living in constant fear for his life, he realized he could no longer remain after occupiers raided the house again.
The boys reached out to the organization Save Ukraine, which helped them escape. After two years under occupation, Andrii and his brother crossed into free Ukraine. To this day, he has no information about the fate of his parents.
“I heard our language, I saw our soldiers, and my heart felt lighter,” Andrii recalls. Today, he dreams of studying and becoming a professional athlete. Above all, he wants to find his parents.
His story is not an exception.
Thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported or transferred to the Russian Federation. Thousands of young lives have been torn from their families, stripped of their identity, and subjected to forced assimilation.
There is extensive evidence of summary executions, torture, sexual violence, and mass graves in territories temporarily occupied by Russia. Civilians have been deliberately targeted and killed. Humanitarian corridors have been shelled. Journalists and humanitarian workers have been attacked.
This is not merely a war against a State. It is a war against people — and against the very idea that rules, law, and human dignity still matter.
Mr. President,
Ukraine did not choose this war. But Ukraine chose life. We chose to resist. The people of Ukraine chose freedom and independence.
If Ukraine were to stop fighting, we would lose our State, our people, and our freedom. The question before this Assembly is not only about Ukraine. It is about who will be next to surrender their freedom in a world without rules and without respect for international law.
Ukraine seeks peace. We have demonstrated our commitment to diplomacy at every stage. We have engaged with partners across all regions and supported every genuine effort to bring this war to an end.
But let me be absolutely clear: Ukraine will never accept a peace of capitulation. We will never accept the occupation of our territories or our people. We will never accept a future defined by aggression. We will never accept awarding aggressor for its aggression. And we will never accept impunity for crimes committed against Ukrainians.
Ukraine seeks — and will achieve — a dignified, comprehensive, just, and lasting peace that secures the freedom and independence of our State within its internationally recognized borders.
Russia continues to reject peace. The Kremlin continues to escalate the war, mobilize resources, and invest in destruction. It is betting on time — betting that the world will grow tired, that unity will weaken, and that principles will be compromised.
This Assembly must not allow that to happen. Because this war is about whether borders can be redrawn by force; whether civilians can be targeted without consequence; and whether the principles we have all pledged to uphold will still mean anything tomorrow.
No Member State should ever be left alone when attacked as Ukraine has been attacked. And Ukraine has not been left alone.
We are deeply grateful to all countries that have stood with Ukraine — through military, financial, humanitarian, and political support.
We are grateful to the US, Europe, African and Arab states, Asian and Latin American states who help to bring peace closer. Your leadership strengthens global stability. Your support is an investment in peace.
We thank this Assembly for its clear and consistent voice in condemning the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.
Excellencies,
This moment demands clarity and unity.
Ukraine believes that the international community must speak with one voice — clearly and unequivocally — in support of a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and in reaffirmation of a genuine peace process grounded in the United Nations Charter and international law.
At this critical moment, Ukraine presents to this Assembly a draft resolution entitled “Support for lasting peace in Ukraine.”
This is not a resolution of rhetoric. It is a resolution of responsibility.
It sets out clear and urgent steps:
support for ongoing peace efforts, including those led by our American and European partners;
a call for a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire;
a call for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in full accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law;
The draft resolution also underscores the urgent need of concrete humanitarian measures. We should once again call for the complete exchange of prisoners of war, the release of all unlawfully detained persons, and the safe return of all internees and civilians, including children. These steps are essential confidence-building measures and a moral imperative.
This is not an abstract document. It is about lives. It is about families. It is about justice.
A vote in favor of this resolution is not a political gesture. It is a choice — a choice between law and force; between justice and impunity; between peace and continued suffering.
But today, words are not enough. Today, we must act.
Ukraine will continue to fight — until every citizen regains the right to life, freedom, and security; until respect to our sovereignty and our territorial integrity are fully restored; until justice prevails.
This is not only Ukraine’s struggle. It is a struggle for the principles upon which the United Nations was founded.
We ask you to stand with us — not only in solidarity, but in decision. Let this Assembly send a clear and unmistakable message: Aggression will not prevail. Justice will not be denied. Peace will not be abandoned.
I therefore urge all Member States to vote in favor of draft resolution ES-11/L.17, “Support for lasting peace in Ukraine.”
My delegation also moves that the debate on agenda item 5 be suspended at 11.00 a.m. today, in order for the Assembly to proceed to the consideration of draft resolution A/ES-11/L.17, on the understanding that the debate would resume immediately after action on the draft resolution and that the eleventh emergency session would only be temporarily adjourned after the conclusion of the debate.
Thank you.