This article is published in association with United Nations.

The Security Council held three high-stakes high-level meetings on Monday in New York, with the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy presiding. Russia vetoed a draft resolution to protect civilians in Sudan, with ambassadors meeting next on Gaza and Lebanon, followed by another forthright debate on Ukraine. UN News app users can follow here.

That’s a wrap

Production team: Daniel Johnson in Geneva and Pia Blondel, Sarah Daly, Steve DeCaul, Julia Foxen, Eileen Travers and Matt Wells in New York

Stay tuned on Tuesday, when we continue our coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, with reports from Geneva and New York and dispatches from the field.

Follow our latest news stories here.

Today 01:18 π.μ.

Thank you for joining us

Here are some highlights from today:

• UN Security Council fails to adopt a draft resolution that would have ramped up civilian protection in war-ravaged Sudan, with Russia casting a veto
• Head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warns that Israel’s annexation of Gaza won’t create lasting Middle East peace
• UN chief of political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo briefed the Security Council on the current situation in Ukraine on the eve of 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion

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• Find what’s happening at UN Headquarters in the Security Council, the General Assembly, including its six main committees, and other official events with UN Meetings Coverage’s live blog, in English and French

Today 12:58 π.μ.

‘Comprehensive, just and lasting peace’ needed: EU

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, EU Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis told the Security Council that Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty concerns every single UN Member State. 

He highlighted Russia’s recent targeting of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, which have left the country with only 30 per cent of its pre-war electricity production capacity and “the highest civilian casualty rates since the start of the full-scale invasion.” 

“There can be no impunity for these atrocities,” Ambassador Lambrinidis declared, calling for Russia and its leadership to be held accountable under international law for “the well-documented human rights violations it commits.” 

The Ambassador also urged third countries to cease supporting Russia’s war, particularly condemning arms transfers which “flagrantly violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions”  Today 12:39 π.μ.

Russia wants war, not peace: Ukraine’s foreign minister

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said “Putin wants war, not peace”. As such, he said “we must increase the price of the war for him.”

International mechanisms have failed, and “we need to create new tools” and to restore respect for the UN Charter, he said, emphasising that the goal of achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is urgent.

“Whatever the price of achieving it now, the price of further failures will be much, much higher,” Minister Sybiha said, stressing that the price of inaction or appeasement far exceeds the price of strong steps. “This war is much larger than Ukraine, and its price for the world can get much higher if we don’t stop Russia now.”

Pointing out that Russia has committed atrocities, violated international conventions and used ammunition containing hazardous chemicals, he said Moscow is crossing red lines.

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‘Real action for real peace’

“The fastest way to end this war is to increase the support Ukraine needs to defend itself and to compel Russia’s withdrawal,” he said. “Equipping Ukraine with the necessary means and removing artificial limitations on weapon use will speed up just and lasting peace.”

Tightening sanctions will deprive Russia of funds for war, he said, noting that Moscow plans to spend $146 billion into its “war machine” next year. Russia’s “shadow fleet” can bring at least $120 billion in oil revenues, he continued, adding that “we must cut these bloody revenues.”

“Let’s realise the price we have already paid for this year, a war that no one wanted except Russia,” he said. “Let’s realise the price we will have to pay for appeasement. Let’s take real action for real peace. Peace through strength.” Today 12:31 π.μ.

Ukraine update: UN confirms presence of toxic chemical in 20 September incident

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is responsible for implementing the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, said on Monday that it has confirmed the presence of a toxic chemical CS, a riot control agent, in samples from an alleged incident on 20 September 2024 in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine.

Independent analysis verified that grenade and soil samples collected from a trench along confrontation lines contained 2-Chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile – the scientific name of CS.

The use of riot control agents as a method of warfare is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Read more at www.opcw.org

Today 12:26 π.μ.

Yet another opportunity to demonise us: Russia

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Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said there was a “certain symbolism” behind the United Kingdom – which holds the Presidency for November – scheduling the current meeting to coincide with 1,000 day-mark since the Ukrainian crisis “reached a hot phase”.

“This is nothing more than just a good media opportunity to demonise Russia, to put  labels on it,” by hostile Western nations, he said.

“In your country, the UK, Russophobia has long before 2022 been made a state policy.”

He said last Friday “marked exactly 950 days” since the visit of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Kyiv, during which he dissuaded the leader of the “Kyiv regime” from signing the Istanbul peace agreement with Russia, which would have stopped the hostilities.

“In other words, it turns out that the UK pushed the Kyiv regime towards inevitable defeat, precipitating its choice in favour of continuing the confrontation with Russia,” Ambassador Nebenzia said. Today 12:15 π.μ.

China: Peace deal depends to ‘considerable extent’ on US

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China’s Deputy Permanent Representative Geng Shuang said the Ukraine conflict is at a “critical juncture,” with “fighting on the ground continuing, the humanitarian crisis worsening and the spillover effects are intensifying”.

He reminded the Council that China, alongside Brazil and Algeria, had launched a “Group of Friends of Peace” focused on the Ukraine crisis, promoting three principles: “no spillover from the battlefield, no escalation of the fighting and no provocation by any party”.

“History has proven time and again that military means will not being lasting peace”, Mr Cong emphasised, calling for immediate talks and stating that China has “always been on the side of peace and on the side of dialogue”.

China’s representative concluded that “the outbreak and continuation of the crisis in Ukraine has a lot to do with the United States,” stating that future peace prospects “depend to a considerable extent on the attitude and actions” of the US, where a new administration takes office in January. Today 12:13 π.μ.

UNRWA chief: Fate of millions of Palestinians in limbo

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, addressed the agency’s Advisory Commission in Geneva on Monday, stressing the urgent need for the commission’s leadership to protect the rights of Palestinian refugees and safeguard UNRWA amid growing challenges. 

“What hangs in the balance is the fate of millions of Palestine refugees and the legitimacy of the rules-based international order,” he warned as the implementation of Israeli legislation threatens UNRWA’s operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Read his full remarks here.

UNRWA

Created by the General Assembly through resolution 302 (IV) in December 1949, the Advisory Commission is tasked with advising and assisting the UNRWA Commissioner-General in carrying out the agency’s mandate. 

It is made up of 29 members and four observers.

Learn more about the commission here.

Today 12:10 π.μ.

Middle East: UN chief urges nuclear-weapon-free zone

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday emphasised the urgency of establishing a Middle East zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction amidst escalating regional conflicts.

“True, sustainable security – in the Middle East and around the world – depends on continuing to pursue our disarmament goals,” he said in a video message to the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

A zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East would represent an important step towards the goal of achieving a world free of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, he said.

He also called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and renewed efforts toward a two-State solution as essential steps for peace.

Read his full statement here

Today 12:09 π.μ.

Ukrainians’s fight concerns us all, French ambassador says

© WFP/Anastasiia Honcharuk

It has been 1,000 days since Russia “chose to attack a sovereign state that posed no threat to it, with the aim of annexing territories in violation of the United Nations Charter and its principles”, said French ambassador Nicolas de Rivière in his address to the Security Council. 

In addition to carrying out deliberate strikes against Ukraine’s civilian population with an “ever-increasing human toll”, Russia’s strikes on port and grain facilities endangers food security worldwide, he said. 

Russia uses sexual violence as “a weapon of war and engages in forced transfers and deportations of Ukrainian children”, he added, stressing that “France is outraged by the tragic fate of children torn from their families and subjected to cruel ‘re-education’ in Russia or Belarus.” 

“The presence of North Korean soldiers on Russian soil and their potential involvement on the Ukrainian front also represents another blatant violation of international law and a serious escalation of the conflict,” he noted. 

The Ukrainians’s fight “concerns us all”, he underscored, adding that “allowing this war of aggression to achieve its objectives risks enabling the global spread of might-makes-right, aggressive border revisions and the imposition of spheres of influence at the expense of States’ sovereign equality.”  18 Νοε 2024  11:59 μ.μ.

Sudan update: Rise in cholera cases

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that over the past four months, more than 31,700 cases of cholera and 900 deaths have been recorded across 11 states in the war-ravaged country.

IOM

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