PRESS RELEASE : If Russia proves to be responsible, it would be a new low – UK at the UN [June 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 6 June 2023.
Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
Thank you, President. And I am grateful to USG Griffiths for his briefing.
The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam is truly an abhorrent act. The UK stands in solidarity with Ukraine and the thousands of Ukrainians who are tonight evacuating from their homes or facing terrible damage to their livelihoods or water supply.
We stand ready to support Ukraine and all those affected by this catastrophe. And we are already working with humanitarian partners on the ground to supply aid. The UK has helped support them to pre-position supplies in case of an emergency like this.
As we have heard, this act has put thousands of civilians in danger and is causing severe environmental damage to the surrounding area. Flooding threatens to contaminate water supplies and vital natural habitats.
Vast swathes of agricultural land and electricity supplies are also at risk. And this in turn threatens food production and the international food trade.
President, this is the latest of many tragic consequences of President Putin’s war, which will bring further terrible suffering to the people of Ukraine.
We have seen Russia indiscriminately attack civilians and critical civilian infrastructure time and time again in this war.
If Russia proves to be responsible, it would be a new low in its conduct of this brutal war.
We will continue to carefully assess the evidence in the coming days. But let me repeat what we have said throughout: now is the time for President Putin to withdraw all his forces from Ukraine’s sovereign territory and bring his war of aggression to an end.
