Addressing the General Assembly, Zelensky said Russia was using citizens from countries including India, Nepal, Ghana, Tajikistan, Yemen, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Sudan and South Africa. He directly appealed to representatives of the countries concerned to act before their citizens were sent to the battlefield.
“We know that Russia uses citizens of 47 countries in its war,” Zelensky said. “Ghana, Nepal, Tajikistan, India, Yemen, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Sudan, South Africa, and many, many others.”
He called on the governments of those countries to take action to protect their citizens and prevent them from becoming involved in the war. “Don’t let Putin drag you into this war,” he said.
Zelensky further said, “Don’t let Russia put out its fires, hide its shame and pay for its madness with the lives of your people.”
His remarks came as the Russia-Ukraine war, which has continued for more than four years, has again intensified. Russia has continued missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, while Kyiv has responded by targeting Russian oil infrastructure and important sites.
Zelensky also called on world leaders to restrict Russia’s sources of revenue and weaken its war effort. Addressing the UN General Assembly in English, he said, “Russia’s revenue sources must remain a target.”
“When a country gives Russia more money through trade, it gives this war more time,” Zelensky said. “That is why we insist on limiting trade with an aggressor country like Russia, and we ourselves are limiting Russia’s sources of revenue.”
Russia is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Saturday. President Vladimir Putin has not attended the General Assembly meeting for several years, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov representing Russia instead.
On Wednesday, Lavrov told the United Nations Security Council that Russia was ready for negotiations aimed at achieving lasting peace, but said Moscow was not in favour of merely “stopping” the war. The positions presented by Zelensky and Lavrov underscored the continuing divide over how the Russia-Ukraine conflict should be brought to an end.
The statements came as the 81st UN General Assembly placed the continuing Russia-Ukraine war among the major international issues being discussed by world leaders.
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