PRESS RELEASE : President met with a member of the US President’s Cabinet, United States Ambassador to the United Nations [November 2022]

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 8 November 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with member of the US President’s Cabinet, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who arrived on a visit to our country.

The Head of State thanked the entire American people, US President Joseph Biden and his administration, the US Congress for the strong bipartisan and bicameral support of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war waged against our country by the Russian Federation.

“It is important that this support is fully manifested in the UN as well,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized, highly appreciating Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s personal role.

The United States delegation was briefed on the situation at the front and the escalation of Russian air terror against critical civilian infrastructure of Ukraine using cruise missiles and Iranian drones. It was emphasized separately that targeted Russian attacks damaged almost 40% of energy infrastructure facilities, as a result of which more than 4.5 million consumers remain without electricity in Ukraine.

“Given the continuation of Russia’s missile terror, our first priority is the urgent creation of an air shield over Ukraine,” the Head of State emphasized.

The President noted that the Russian Federation supplements the missile terror with cynical accusations against Ukraine of creating a “dirty bomb”, which have already been officially denied by the IAEA, and the continuation of open nuclear blackmail at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

In this regard, Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the need for the United Nations to take a number of immediate steps, including the immediate dispatch of a mission of UN experts initiated by our state to Ukraine to investigate Iran’s supply of UAVs to Russia in violation of UN Security Council sanctions; sending competent representatives of the UN to the objects of critical infrastructure of Ukraine to assess the destruction and the need for restoration; maximum involvement of the capabilities of the United Nations in the restoration of the Ukrainian energy industry.

“It is also necessary to limit the membership and privileges of the terrorist state in the IAEA. There is a clear and understandable algorithm for this,” said the President of Ukraine.

During the meeting, the parties focused on supporting Ukraine’s initiatives at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. First of all, regarding the creation of a compensation mechanism for the consequences of Russian aggression, the initiation of a special tribunal regarding the crime of Russian aggression against our country, as well as the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, with an emphasis on Crimea and Sevastopol.

Special attention was paid to the pressing issue of Russia’s forced detention of Ukrainian military and civilian prisoners. The President reminded that more than a thousand prisoners have already been released, but a large number of Ukrainians are still living in terrible conditions on the territory of Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In this regard, the Head of State emphasized the importance of international pressure in order to resolve the issue of access of UN representatives and the International Committee of the Red Cross to these persons as soon as possible.

A separate topic of the meeting was global food security. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the role of the UN and the Secretary-General personally in the implementation of the “grain initiative”, which provides food to millions of people in Africa, Asia and Europe. The interlocutors emphasized the need to extend the grain agreement after November 19.

“The last few days show that it is possible. Yes, Russia slows down this process in every possible way in order to blackmail the world. But I think that we will cope with this problem together,” he is convinced.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that despite the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, Ukraine is ready to remain the guarantor of world food security.

“Ukraine saves the world” – under this slogan we will provide assistance to the poorest. The first ship in the framework of the initiative is to depart shortly. We offer the countries of the world to join this important initiative,” the President of Ukraine noted.

There was also an exchange of views on specific steps to limit the aggressor state’s ability to abuse UN membership.