As Russia is forced into retreat, its brutality is laid bare: UK statement at UN Security Council

I will now make a statement in my capacity as the Representative of the United Kingdom.

President Zelenskyy, by video, Secretary-General, Colleagues,

The United Nations was created in the wake of a European war of aggression that laid waste to Europe and engulfed the world.

All of us who signed the UN Charter committed to ending the scourge of war, to fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person, the equal rights of nations large and small, to justice, and respect for international law.

Yet now, we are facing another war of aggression in Europe.

We have heard today, again, the devastating impact of Russia’s unilateral and illegal military action in Ukraine. Its impact on surrounding countries and the region, and on the security and prosperity of the wider world, as it seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• thousands killed

• millions displaced

• cities razed to the ground

• hospitals bombed

• citizens cut off from food, water and medicine

• blockaded sea ports and the rapid increase in wheat prices

• pressure on already stretched humanitarian resources

And now, as Russia is forced into retreat from areas around Kyiv, the brutality of the invasion is laid bare. We have all seen the horrific images from the towns of Bucha and Irpin of civilians deliberately killed in areas from which Russian forces have recently withdrawn — and the video we saw earlier underlined that horror.

These acts, and other credible incidents, must be investigated as war crimes, and the UK fully supports the work of the International Criminal Court and the work of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and other national prosecutors.

Colleagues, as we, and so many others, have said so many times, all of this could be stopped if the Russian Federation ended this war now.

I resume my function as President of the Council.