A six-year-old boy at his mother’s grave in the yard of their house in a Kyiv suburb. Photo:Rodrigo Abd (war.ukraine.ua)
UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on the temporary deprivation of Russia’s rights in the UN Human Rights Council
Brussels/Moscow: The G7 foreign ministers, while condemning “in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha and a number of other Ukrainian towns”, today issued a joint statement pledging to provide investigative support, technical experts and funding to the ongoing work to investigate and gather evidence of the Bucha massacres and other potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Dmytro Kuleba, Head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution on the temporary deprivation of Russia’s rights in the UN Human Rights Council because of Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine.
The US Department of Commerce was quoted by the Ukrainian authorities, which stated that the United States imposed new sanctions on three Russian airlines – Aeroflot, Azur Air, and UTair for the violation by the Russian side of the export control rules.
Also read: Reports of civilians’ killings in Ukraine “more than credible”: Blinken
Meanwhile, the G7 foreign ministers stated that the massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities and severe violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, committed by the aggressor on Ukrainian soil.
The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, welcomed and extended their support to the investigations being carried out by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, the Commission of Inquiry mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission Ukraine of the OHCHR, and the OSCE’s mission of experts mandated by the OSCE Participating States.
“Haunting images of civilian deaths, victims of torture, and apparent executions, as well as reports of sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure, show the true face of Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people,” they stated.
In the presence of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, they expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and underlined their “unwavering” support for Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. They expressed their readiness to assist further, including with military equipment and financial means, to allow Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s aggression and rebuild Ukraine.
Asking Russia to immediately comply with the legally binding order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to suspend the military operations that it commenced on February 24, 2022, they urged Moscow to withdraw completely its military forces and equipment from there entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
Meanwhile, Russia today claimed that following the information gathered during the special military operation in Ukraine, the disclosed data on the U.S. military and biological activities in the laboratories on the territory of Ukraine “clearly indicate the violation of Articles I и IV of the BWC”. Russia made this charge in a statement released by its foreign ministry in Moscow today on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening for signature of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BWC).
“More attention should be paid to the development of confidence-building measures, including reporting of information by States on their military biological activities abroad,” Russia demanded.
However, the G7 Ministers condemned Russia’s “unsubstantiated claims and false allegations against Ukraine, which they called a “respected member of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention”, and warned Russia against any threat or use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
“We express our gravest concern with Russia forcefully seizing control of nuclear facilities, and other violent actions in connection with a number of nuclear facilities, nuclear and other radioactive material, which have caused and continue to pose serious and direct threats to the safety and security of these facilities and their civilian personnel, significantly raising the risk of a nuclear accident or incident, which endangers the population of Ukraine, neighbouring States and the international community,” the statement said. It called upon the Russian leadership to immediately provide for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access and make safe passages work, enabling humanitarian aid to be delivered to besieged cities and civilians to reach safety.
Taking note of Russia’s “ruthless war” having massive consequences on global commodities and food prices, the G7 ministers countered Russia’s narrative that Western sanctions have caused the rise in global food prices and called it “a blatant lie”.
They also stressed the “necessity” of further increasing the economic pressure inflicted on Russia and the Lukashenka regime in Belarus. “Together with international partners, the G7 will sustain and increase pressure on Russia by imposing coordinated additional restrictive measures to effectively thwart Russian abilities to continue the aggression against Ukraine. We will work together to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions or to aid Russia by other means. We are taking further steps to expedite plans to reduce our reliance on Russian energy and will work together to this end,” they stated.
While commending neighbouring states for demonstrating solidarity and humanity by welcoming Ukrainian refugees and third-country nationals affected by the conflict, the ministers paid special attention to the Republic of Moldova, which hosts the largest group of refugees from Ukraine per capita. The Ministers agreed to further coordinate their assistance for Moldova’s humanitarian response and long-term resilience following the Moldova Support Conference co-hosted by Germany, France and Romania on April 5, 2022, in Berlin and the establishment of the Moldova Support Platform.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, today met the US Secretary of States Antony J. Blinken in Brussels and told him to set the timeline of supplies of the weapons which are needed to defend Ukraine.
“I am satisfied with the dynamics of our cooperation on weapons and on sanctions as well, but when it comes to sanction – to weapons – and this is the point that I made today to all allies – we have no doubts that in the end, Ukraine will get everything that it needs and will overcome all the reluctance and hesitation coming from some allies when it comes to specific weapons. But the issue of a timeline is crucial,” he told Blinken.
He said Ukraine was grateful to the United States for “ironclad diplomatic and military support, and for the leadership in – of the United States in initiating, imposing, and enforcing sanctions against Russia”. He added: “I have told you once that the recipe of Ukrainian victory in this war – it’s the Ukrainian stamina plus Western weapons and sanctions against Russia.
Kuleba also thanked Blinken for reaching out to third countries who haven’t taken their firm stance on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and for explaining to them not only what happened – what is happening, but also the global repercussions of the Russian aggression against my country. “It’s important to mobilize the entire world that stands for democracy and respect of the rule-based order,” he said.
– global bihari bureau
