Statement

by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations,

Ambassador H.E. Dr. Andrii Melnyk, LL.M.,

at the General Assembly’s meeting

regarding the retaining of the item “The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine” 

on the agenda of UNGA 81st session

(11 September 2026)

Mr. President,

The General Assembly has before it a clear and unequivocal recommendation of the General Committee to retain the item “The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine” on the agenda of its 81st session.

The Russian Federation has once again violated the rules of procedure, invoking arguments that are void of any justification.

These objections that we just heard are no more convincing than they were in the General Committee two days ago.

The presence of this item on our agenda reflects a repeatedly reaffirmed decision of the General Assembly itself.

In resolution 77/229, the Assembly decided in 2022 that this item should remain on its agenda until the violations resulting from foreign occupation and control of parts of Ukraine’s territory are duly addressed and Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders is fully restored.

That decision was reaffirmed in GA resolutions 78/221, 79/184 and 80/223.

Now let us put Russian arguments under a microscope and you will see that they are entirely unfounded and cannot withstand any scrutiny.

Russia is referring to Article 12, paragraph 1, of the UN Charter and misleadingly claims that this provision shall be an obstacle for the General Assembly to remain seized of the matter and retain the issue of Ukraine on its agenda.

This is an utterly far-fetched argument.

The matter currently before the Security Council concerns the maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine.

That question has a different connotation than the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

While the Security Council seeks pathways towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, our consideration aims at addressing the grave violations of human rights and the dire humanitarian situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The need for this agenda item has not disappeared. On the contrary: Russia’s temporary occupation continues as do grave and systematic violations and abuses by the occupying power.

To argue that the Security Council’s consideration should now be used to prevent the General Assembly from even addressing the situation in Ukraine’s occupied territories would produce an absurd result: deadlock and inaction in one principal organ would be invoked as the justification for enforced silence in another.

Article 12 does not turn the Security Council’s consideration of a situation into an exclusive prerogative: as the International Court of Justice has made clear, the General Assembly and the Security Council may deal with the same situation in parallel, consistently with the UN Charter.

Moreover, there is also a profound irony in Russia invoking this very argument.

For more than a year and a half, Ukraine and other members of the Security Council have sought meaningful action of the Council in support of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.

Yet it is Russia that has been blocking any decision of the Security Council.

Therefore, we call upon Member States to reject the Russian proposal and adopt the report of the General Committee, and retain this agenda item “The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine” on the agenda of the 81st session.

I thank you.