Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, who strongly criticised the Kremlin at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, was not surprised that the Russian ambassador demonstratively left the hall during his speech.
“It is difficult to communicate because I also did not want to listen to [...] his hard-to-understand speeches. Well, his demonstrativeness has probably been demonstrated more than once, and not only towards me,” Nausėda told journalists in the US.
According to him, this behaviour of the Russian representative reflects the general position of the aggressor state on the UN security principles.
“This is perhaps, again, a continuation of the same behaviour of Russia, which is demonstrating with everything it does that it does not give a damn about the principles of the UN Charter and that it will continue to use those privileges that were once granted to it, but which had lost their meaning because Russia is no longer the same Russia, or the successor of the Soviet Union, that was established when the United Nations was founded and the existence of this important organisation began,” the Lithuanian president said.
“I do not believe that Russia deserves the sympathy for its destructive behaviour,” he added.
Mocking UN
During his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Nausėda stressed that Russia is mocking and undermining the credibility of the United Nations system by hiding behind its permanent seat on the Security Council.
“We have not been able to stop this madness. We have not been able to force Russia to reconsider its dangerous course. We have not been able to hold it accountable for so many violations of the United Nations Charter,” Nausėda said at the General Debate of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Why was that the case? Because to this day, the aggressor is hiding under the cover of the Security Council’s permanent membership. Hiding in plain sight. Mocking every one of us with its unrestricted veto power. It is a terrible blow to the very credibility of the United Nations system,” he said.
As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Moscow has regularly blocked efforts to hold it accountable for military actions in the neighbouring country.
“Each and every member of the United Nations – every sovereign nation – has also much to lose. [...] If any sovereign nation is under the threat of complete destruction, no country is truly safe anymore. If the international community looks away and ignores the unpleasant truth, no country is truly safe anymore. And if mass killings, deportations and deliberate attacks on the civilian population become the new norm, no country is truly safe anymore,” Nausėda said.
According to Nausėda, Ukraine is fighting for the future of all countries that believe in the UN Charter and its principles, yet, he argued, the collective response has been inadequate.
Stop supplying arms
In his address, Nausėda called on countries, including Belarus, Iran, North Korea, and China, to stop providing Russia with military support, including the transfer of dual-use materials.
“More arms for Russia means more civilian deaths. More civilian infrastructure destroyed. More chaos,” he said.
The Lithuanian president also argued that the coming winter will be extremely difficult for Ukrainians due to Russia’s constant attacks on the energy infrastructure. Therefore, support for the country must be swift and focused on the energy sector.
Ukraine has lost more than two-thirds of its electricity generation capacity since the start of the Russian invasion. The International Energy Agency has warned that the third winter of the war will be the toughest test for the country’s energy system.
“Ukraine does not want Russia’s territories. It wants to liberate its own people – not Russia’s. It wants to see prisoners of war and abducted children – thousands of them – returned. It wants the constant deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure, of so many schools, hospitals, and power stations, to finally stop,” Nausėda said.
The president also insisted that only Ukraine has the right to set the terms for peace, adding that Lithuania urges all “peace-loving countries” to contribute to Ukraine’s Peace Formula, which he described as “the one path towards comprehensive, just and lasting peace”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to present his “victory plan” for Ukraine during his visit to the United States this week. Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, has said this includes an invitation to Kyiv to join NATO.
‘No place for Russia in the Security Council’
Since the large-scale invasion began in February 2022, the international community has been discussing the establishment of a special international tribunal for Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine, an idea actively supported by Lithuania.
“Justice will have to be served. Russia will have to atone for its many crimes and pay damages. The main culprits of the war of aggression and numerous war crimes will have to stand before the court,” Nausėda said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children. However, Mongolia, an ICC member, failed to arrest the Russian leader when he visited the country in early September.
In his UN address, Nausėda also called for using Russia’s immobilised foreign assets to pay for the damage done to Ukraine.
He emphasised that Lithuania “will not stop demanding that Russia ends its grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the occupied territories of Ukraine” and “will continue providing shelter to Ukrainian war refugees”.
“Finally, we must all join forces in pushing for a comprehensive Security Council reform. There is simply no place for Russia in the Security Council, which was created to maintain international peace and security,” the president said.
“We call on all the members of the United Nations to unite in securing a better future for all. A future where every sovereign country is protected from imperialism and every human being from arbitrary violence and war. Let us build a safer future together,” he concluded his address.
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