UN Security Council: Zelensky state of emergency at the UN

The UN headquarters in New York has actually seen it all in the past decades: peace has been made and war has been fomented. Presidents and kings, Pope Francis and Nelson Mandela – they were all here.

But the state of emergency that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently placing the United Nations headquarters in feels different. Closely surrounded by American and Ukrainian bodyguards, some of them, like him, in military clothing, Zelenskyj brings the aura of war in his country to the UN general debate. Today he could face the aggressor for the first time in the famous Security Council.

The UN visit is significant

The effort that the American security services are making for Zelensky’s visit is equivalent to that of the US president. The complicated preparation began weeks ago. The UN headquarters is not officially part of American territory and has its own security service – diplomats, journalists and lobbyists from dozens of countries walk around here. And it is an open secret that one or two Russians in the house know the Moscow secret services not just from television. For this reason, Zelensky is at risk even here – 7,500 kilometers and an ocean away from Kiev, behind a high fence and multiple security checkpoints.

But the UN visit is important in view of the ever-longer war: Zelensky is here to secure the support of countries that are annoyed that their problems are not getting enough attention. In his speech to the General Assembly, Zelensky’s message to the skeptics is as passionate as it is direct: If Ukraine falls, you could be next. The 45-year-old traveled to the United Nations for the first time since the start of the war. To the world organization that is supposed to keep the peace and yet was unable to do so in Ukraine. At the end of February 2022, one of the most dramatic meetings in recent UN history took place here, in the Security Council hall: the situation had been brewing for weeks. And now it looked as if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to invade was imminent.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov expected

At a hastily scheduled emergency meeting, the tension was palpable. An ambassador at the table later said she felt like she was witnessing world history. The otherwise sober-looking UN Secretary General António Guterres looked into the camera: “President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance.” It only took 30 minutes before an employee whispered in his ear during the meeting that the man in the Kremlin had given the order to invade.

Zelenskyj is scheduled to enter this same hall today (5 p.m. CEST). He will take a seat at the round table in front of the huge “Mural of Peace”. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected in Putin’s absence. Ukrainian UN Ambassador Serhiy Kislizia speaks of the most important meeting of the most powerful UN body. Even if US President Joe Biden will probably only send his Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Security Council consists of 15 countries, five veto powers and ten non-permanent members – other countries can also speak upon request. According to information from the German Press Agency, the Council wants to allow Zelenskyj to speak at the beginning of the meeting today. The members could push this through with 9 of the 15 votes, even if Russia opposes it – the veto does not apply in so-called procedural voting.

But Lavrov, who was a UN ambassador for many years, also knows the tricks in the Security Council. Last year, he entered the hall for exactly 23 minutes for his speech, ignoring Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Very few people expect a wild exchange of blows between Zelensky and Lavrov. But at the UN headquarters, historical moments tend to happen without notice.