Mr. President,

We appreciate the opportunity to address the Security Council. Today’s meeting could not be timelier.

We want to join other delgations in thanking Switzerland for hosting the Summit on Peace for Ukraine. More than 100 countries and international organizations participated in a truly global exchange on how to bring Russia’s war of aggression to an end.

The Summit was an important milestone and an overwhelming manifestation of the international community’s unity, and of its strong desire for peace. A comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on international law and the UN Charter. A peace that safeguards Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.

Germany will continue to wholeheartedly support this inclusive and cross-regional effort which prepares the ground for future dialogue. A dialogue that will become possible once Russia abandons its ambition to forcefully subjugate Ukraine, to erase Ukraine’s identity and te illegally absorb parts of Ukraine into the Russian Federation.

Mr. President,

We are not faced with a regional crisis.

A permanent member of the UN Security Council launched a war of aggression against its neighbor in violation of the UN Charter.

It underpinned this aggression by irresponsible nuclear threats and by the taboo-breaking occupation and militarization of Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

We are faced with an attack on the United Nations themselves.

Russia’s illegal war of aggression is marked by a complete indifference for the suffering of civilians and by blatant disregard for international law. As a result of its relentless shelling, missile and drone attacks, much of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure lays in ruins. Millions of people in Ukraine are affected.

It is therefore imperative that we tackle the question of reconstruction early on, while the war is still ongoing. Germany had the honor of co-hosting last week’s international Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin with more than 3.400 representatives of the public and private sector and of international and non-governmental organizations.. To make use of the vast potentials of Ukrainian society, empowerment of local actors and communities took center stage.

The Berlin conference showed broad unity and solidarity in support of Ukraine. Over 110 agreements were signed and investments amounting to about 17 billion US dollars were announced. These investments will help Ukraine to rebuild and protect its energy infrastructure, and increase its resilience. We are now looking forward to next year’s URC in Italy.

Mr. President,

I wish to close my remarks by once again urging Russia to stop its senseless aggression and to withdraw its troops from Ukraine immediately. I would like to call on all UN member states to support the peace track laid out in Switzerland, to end this war in line with the UN Charter.

I thank you.