UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sometimes the issues brought forward at the United Nations signature annual meeting may feel a bit familiar. Climate change is always in focus, especially in the past few years. There are regular disputes about who is on the security council. Pleas to stop wars and address hunger.
But this year, it’s what’s not getting as much attention that has Ukraine concerned.
The war in Ukraine was center stage the last two times that world leaders convened for the high-level meeting of the General Assembly. But this year, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the escalating developments along the Israeli-Lebanese border have gotten much of the spotlight.
Ukraine president VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, at the podium, implored world leaders not to give in to calls for a ceasefire that doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty. “When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles, it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war,” Zelenskyy said.