The US deputy ambassador to the United Nations called out the ongoing Russian airstrikes on Ukraine at an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Monday that was convened by Kyiv to protest Russia’s alleged use of a hypersonic Oreshnik missile on Thursday.
“We condemn Russia’s continuing and intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities and other civilian infrastructure,” US Deputy Ambassador Tammy Bruce said. “These attacks make a mockery of the cause of peace, a cause of paramount importance to the world and to President Trump.”
Bruce called Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure “another dangerous and inexplicable escalation of this war” that was being carried out in spite of Washington’s ongoing efforts to end hostilities via negotiation.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had “killed and injured scores of civilians”, adding that the most vulnerable were the worst affected. DiCarlo called on both sides to work towards an “immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire as a first step towards a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace”.
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, denied that Thursday’s attack, believed to have been Russia’s second use of the Oreshnik missile to date, had been aimed at civilians.
Nebenzya went on to criticise the UN leadership for its lack of response to attacks on civilian targets in Russia, and said that the war would continue until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to “realistic negotiation terms”.
Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, said that “such a blatant attack” represented a clear threat to the security of the European continent, and undermined regional stability, while “posing serious risks to broader international peace”.