The President of Ukraine presented figures in the United Nations against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a recorded video message, he also called for the UN tribunal to impose specific punitive measures against Russia, including stripping Moscow of its veto power in the Security Council and imposing financial penalties.
President Zelensky was given permission to send video messages despite Russia's objections, taking into account the special situation of Ukraine, where the leaders of the nations must come to the UN General Assembly in person because the Covid pandemic is over.
Zelensky's recorded address to world leaders at the U.N. The General Assembly on Wednesday came after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow's first wartime mobilization since World War Two and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia in what he has cast as a defining East-West clash.
Moscow plans to conscript 300,000 soldiers. Imprisonment was also imposed on those who refused military service. The invasion of Ukraine, which began in February, has killed thousands, displaced millions and reduced towns to rubble.
Russia's mobilization may be the riskiest domestic political move of Putin's two decades in power, following months of Kremlin promises it would do no such thing and comes at a time when Russia has been facing a string of battlefield failures.
Concern over being conscripted saw flights out of Russia quickly sell out, and jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny called for mass demonstrations against the mobilization.
Independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info said nearly 1,400 people in 38 Russian cities had been detained in protests by Wednesday evening.
Zelensky stated five conditions that cannot be compromised for peace. These include punishment for Russian aggression, restoration of Ukraine's security and territorial integrity, and security guarantees.
"A crime has been committed against Ukraine and we demand a fair punishment," Zelenskyy told the UN body.
Putin ordered the military draft in a televised address in which he also announced moves to annex four Ukrainian provinces and threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, declaring: "It's not a bluff".
U.S. President Joe Biden, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, responded: "Again, just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe, in a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime."
On Wednesday, EU foreign ministers agreed to draft new sanctions against Russia and increase arms supplies to Kyiv.
"It is clear that Putin is trying to destroy Ukraine," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after the ministers' meeting.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies met in New York on Wednesday to confirm cooperation in providing support to Ukraine.