Mr. President,
Germany aligns itself with the statement to be delivered by the European Union.

When we look at what is happening in Ukraine, and what has happened in the last 12 years, there is little difference of opinion amongst us in this Assembly.

What lies at the core of Russia’s war of aggression is simple: an imperial-minded power sent its tanks and troops across the border of a sovereign neighbor without provocation and in blatant disregard of its obligation under the UN Charter.

This is why we all voted in recent years with an overwhelming majority to condemn the Russian aggression.

We cannot accept that, 80 years after the end of WWII, and in the year of the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, yet again, borders in Europe are violated by aggression, land is gained through killing and maps are redrawn by illegal annexations based on sham referenda.

We cannot accept it for a simple reason:
Because looking away or condoning these flagrant violations of the most fundamental principles of International Law will pose a grave danger not only to Europe but to everyone on this planet.

It is imperative to pressure Russia to finally halt its aggression.

Germany believes that an immediate, unconditional ceasefire will create the right conditions for real peace negotiations – the unconditional ceasefire, I may add, that Ukraine has been offering for many months, and we heard it yet again in today’s debate by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine.

Instead, we are witnessing delaying tactics by Russia, delaying tactics as infamous as they are obvious: while Russian leaders claim to seek negotiations and peace, their forces continue to send bombs, drones and rockets, and continue the indiscriminate shelling of residential areas throughout Ukraine, unabated every day and night.

More than 13.000 civilians in Ukraine have already lost their lives due to aggression by air, land, and sea. Disturbing reports continue to emerge about atrocities committed by Russian troops in the occupied territories against both civilians and prisoners of war.

The abduction of Ukrainian children, repeatedly denounced in several United Nations reports, is a particularly heinous example of these war crimes.

It is the obligation of the international community to ensure that the perpetrators of those crimes will be held accountable.

Mr. President,

The people of Ukraine, as the people of every Member State, have the right to live in peace, security and freedom as citizens of a sovereign country.

Only the people of Ukraine have the right to determine their country’s future; not a powerful neighbor or any global power.

As Federal Chancellor Merz pointed out, Germany will neither rest nor relent until the full and lasting stability and security of Ukraine is firmly restored. And we repeatedly made it very clear: we will support Ukraine in its right of legitimate self-defense as long as it takes.

At the same time, Germany is sparing no diplomatic effort to enable a peace based on three principles:

A peace that, first and foremost, is rooted in the rules and principles enshrined in the UN Charter.

A peace that, second, must rest in the hands of the Ukrainians. There can be no solution negotiated without Kyiv.

A peace that, third, does not forget about the power of precedent. If the aggressor is rewarded for war, the long-term consequences for all of us will be profound and extremely dangerous.

A just and lasting peace for the people of Ukraine is not only an ethical and legal imperative.
It is also a vital shared interest of every Member State, every Member State that does not want that the gruesome logic of violence will prevail, yet again.

I thank you.