Madam President,

Germany aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union.

Four years ago, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, following more than ten years of violent interference. Every single day, Russia’s illegal and unjustified war of aggression continues to cost many lives, continues to destroy livelihoods and to inflict unjustifiable harm, and to impact food security worldwide.

This year again, in the middle of a harsh winter, Russia is deliberately intensifying its war against the civilian population. Merciless attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine have left hundreds of thousands of civilians, men and women, children and elderly without electricity, heat and water, attempting to break the will of Ukraine’s population. We should all acknowledge and commend the enduring resilience of the Ukrainian people.

All of this is well documented, including by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Here at the Russia has consistently blocked the Security Council from taking meaningful action. And in negotiations, Russia keeps insisting on maximalist demands and aims to gain at the negotiating table what it has failed to reach militarily.

Colleagues,

All of this matters to all of us. Because Russia’s violation of the prohibition of the use of force is an attack on the most fundamental rules of the international order. Its direct attacks against the civilian population seriously undermine international humanitarian law. This has to end, and we have to be concerned, all of us.

With the resolution we adopted today, the General Assembly calls for an immediate ceasefire. This would benefit the ongoing peace negotiations. This would create the basis for restarting, for rebuilding trust between the parties.

Let us not forget: Almost a year ago, Ukraine put an offer for an immediate ceasefire without any preconditions on the table. So it depends only on Russia to stop the war.

Germany continues to support Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Together with our partners, we provide extensive political, military, financial, economic, humanitarian, and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people and we will continue to do so.

Madam President, colleagues,

It was high time that the General Assembly sends a clear message to the world today by adopting this resolution. A signal that the United Nations Charter matters. That international law matters. That we are united in the ambition to bring this war to an end, to stop bloodshed, and to undertake serious steps towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.

We owe it to the Ukrainian people, who have shown, time and again, that they want peace. And we owe it also to our people, to show that the principles that we all agreed to matter. So, again: It depends on Russia to finally end this war. Let’s all work towards this end.

Thank you.