President of Ukraine calls for UN reform

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "humanity no longer pins its hopes on the UN when it comes to protecting the sovereign borders of nations". Therefore, he proposes to reform the organisation.

He said this during his speech at the UN Security Council.

The first step is to overcome the veto.

"The veto in the hands of the aggressor is what has brought the UN to a standstill. No matter who you are, the current UN system makes you less than the veto, which is held by only a few and used by one - Russia."

The second step is to expand the representation of nations in the Security Council. The President mentioned the African Union, Asia, Germany, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim states as examples.

The third step is a system of preventing aggression by early-warning efforts. Such measures include "powerful sanctions against the aggressor".

Zelenskyy is convinced that Russia must withdraw all its troops, including the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as well as mercenaries and illegal armed groups from the territory of Ukraine within the 1991 borders.

Ukraine, in turn, should fully control its state border, including the economic zone in the Black and Azov Seas and the Kerch Strait.

"The epicentre of such work should be this hall - the hall of the UN Security Council and, to an even greater extent, the hall of the General Assembly. If this requires a reform of the UN institutions, it means that we should not be afraid of reform," the President of Ukraine concluded.

Photo: Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg