Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has outlined a 10-point peace plan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a video speech to G20 leaders. The steps include a path to nuclear safety, food security and a special tribunal for alleged Russian war crimes.
He also urged the leaders present to use all their power to “make Russia abandon nuclear threats” and implement a price cap on energy imported from Moscow.
He repeatedly addressed the leaders as the “G19”, intentionally excluding Russia.
In the address, Zelensky juxtaposed the recent liberation of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to the battles leading to the Allied defeat of Germany in World War II.
“It is like, for example, D-Day: the landing of the Allies in Normandy. It was not yet a final point in the fight against evil, but it already determined the entire further course of events. If the victory will be ours in any case, and we are sure of it, then shouldn’t we try to implement our formula for peace to save thousands of lives and protect the world from further destabilization?”
Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelensky also called on Russia to cease the bombing of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches. “Let Russia prove by its rejection of terror that it is really interested in the restoration of peace,” he said
He presented a number of strategies, including ensuring Radiation and nuclear safety, the cessation of hostilities, food and energy security, a prevention of escalation, release of prisoners and deportees and a confirmation of the end of the war
Prominent among his requests, was an extension of a deal known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative which was struck in July between the United Nations and Russia. It ensured that food exports blocked at Ukrainian ports by Russian warships could be shipped out.
According to the UN, 10 million tonnes of grain and other food have been exported since the deal began, preventing a global food crisis but the deal expires on 19 November. Mr Zelensky said the deal should be extended indefinitely, “no matter when the war ends”.
The right to food is a fundamental right of every person in the world, he said, proposing to expand the deal to other ports in the Mykolaiv region.
Russia has been isolated at this year’s G20 summit as many Western leaders vowed not to have any contact with its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is in attendance on behalf of Putin.
Lavrov Blames The West And Its Allies.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister,blamed the West and its allies for provoking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The West and its allies have provoked Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and not vice versa,” he said.
“The more they [the West and allies] talk about unprovoked aggression, the more everybody is convinced it was provoked by them,” Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
“And it is not aggression, it is [an] operation to defend the legitimate interests of Russian security because of threats on Russia’s borders and to defend the Russian population in Donbas,” he further mentioned, using one of Russia’s common propaganda lines.
Lavrov also accused NATO and the European Union of interfering in the war in Ukraine.
“I believe NATO and the European Union have long been participants in a hybrid war in Ukraine, hybrid conflict with their arms supplies and training servicemen, and helping with a large amount of intelligence, helping with targeting,” he disclosed.
READ MORE: G20 Summit Commences Today
