Mr President,

Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression against my country has trampled the very foundations of human rights. This is not merely a violation; it is a deliberate assault on human dignity as such.

The Vienna Declaration affirms that states are obligated to protect individuals, even under occupation, and to ensure effective legal safeguards. Yet, since 2014, we have witnessed a systematic erosion of respect for these principles:

the UN Charter flouted, international law ignored, and the core tenets of human rights flagrantly subverted.

Today, in this Council, we confront a disturbing attempt by Russia to normalize what can never be normalized - invoking the sixtieth anniversary of the International Covenants on Human Rights while simultaneously violating every right enshrined therein.

We cannot agree to impunity, nor allow the subversion of law to become the new normal. Forced deportations, persecution, and other elements of Russia’s genocidal policy against Ukrainians constitute a profound affront to sovereignty, territorial integrity, and human dignity.

International law must not be shredded before our eyes. We call upon the international community to stand steadfast in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace, to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, to safeguard its people, and to ensure that accountability and justice prevail.