Statement by Ambassador at the UN Security Council
meeting on Ukraine.
"Thank you President, and can I start by thanking Mr Rajasingham
for his briefing today and through you to your colleagues in OCHA
for their work.
Russia’s brutal, illegal and full scale invasion of Ukraine has
shattered lives, families and livelihoods. As we’ve heard, the
humanitarian needs are most acute around the front lines and in
the temporarily Russian controlled territories. Reporting
indicates that civilians face significant hardship with shortages
of food, fuel and water. We call on Russia to allow humanitarians
to operate safely in these areas. To deliver aid to people who
desperately need it. But no Ukrainian is unaffected. Over 5
million Ukrainians are internally displaced and over 17 million
need humanitarian assistance.
And here, I want to echo the concerns expressed by Ecuador and by
the executive director of UNICEF for the harm that Russia’s
invasion is doing to Ukrainian children. Ukrainian organisations
and volunteer networks remain the primary humanitarian responders
in these parts of Ukraine. Their work is critical and the UK
commends them for their courage and their commitment. And it is
vital that the international community, including the UN,
continue to support them.
And as we’ve heard from Mr Rajasingham and as we have
discussed before, Russia’s attacks on Ukraines ports and grain
infrastructure destroyed over 280,000 tonnes of grain in a
month. Enough to feed well over a million people for a year.
These attacks are clearly intended to block Ukrainian grain
exports, which are crucial to global food security and the World
Food Programme’s work.
So as winter approaches, I want to underline two
points.
First, we repeat our call on Russia to comply fully with its
obligations under international humanitarian law. To act in line
with their statements in other contexts in recent days, and allow
humanitarians to operate safely and to stop using food as a
weapon of war.
Second, Russia must end its illegal invasion of Ukraine. This is
the only way to protect global food markets and end the suffering
of the Ukrainian people.
I thank you, President."
