Top diplomats at the United Nations Security Council called for peace in Ukraine on Friday, the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but remained in stalemate over how to initiate and achieve an end to a conflict whose impact has been felt around the world.
Their divisions fell along the lines of a new world order. Ukraine, the United States and European allies said that enduring peace could be achieved only if Russia withdrew all of its troops and the territorial integrity of Ukraine were respected; Russia, China and some allied African and Asian nations, rejected preconditions of military withdrawal to peace talks and called for negotiations to start addressing the security concerns of both parties.
António Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, told the Security Council that it was time to act, because “life is a living hell for the people of Ukraine” and the conflict’s far-reaching effects threatened the stability of the world. “The guns are talking now, but in the end we all know that the path of diplomacy and accountability is the road to a just and sustainable peace,” Mr. Guterres said.
The U.S. secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, pressed assembled diplomats for fairness and clarity. “Members of this Council should not fall into the false equivalency of calling on both sides to stop fighting, or calling on other nations to stop supporting Ukraine in the name of peace,” he said.
In the past 24 hours, two countering peace plans have emerged. On Friday, China revealed a 12-point plan, endorsed by Russia, calling for the cessation of hostilities but not troop withdrawals, an end to “Cold War mentality,” lifting sanctions and resuming negotiations.
China’s top foreign ministry official, Wang Yi, told the Security Council that his country’s aim in offering the plan was to play a responsible and constructive role in ending the conflict. “Security is not an exclusive right enjoyed only by some countries,” he said. “The security of one country should not be pursued at the expense of others.”
Several European diplomats told reporters before the Security Council meeting that China’s plan was not acceptable and would deepen existing divides.
The other plan came a day earlier, in a resolution that the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt. It calls for a comprehensive and lasting peace predicated on Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine and withholding recognition of any territorial gains made by force. The resolution carries symbolic political weight but is not legally binding.
Russia holds veto power at the United Nations only in the Security Council, and only six members of the General Assembly joined it in rejecting the resolution on Thursday, though several dozen abstained, including China, Iran and India.
Russia’s ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, said his country would not consider scenarios for peace plans that are not in line with its priorities. “We are ready to negotiate about how the goals of our special military operation could be implemented using peaceful means,” he said, using the Kremlin’s softened term for the war.
The Security Council observed two separate minutes of silence for the victims of the war, one called by Ukraine and one by Russia, with diplomats and delegations standing in silence.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba said, “Peace means justice, and all the peace-loving nations will win peace on the battlefield and at the diplomatic tables.”
Outside the meeting, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, dozens of protesters gathered in support of Ukraine holding posters saying “Russians are Nazis” and chanting for the Security Council to revoke Russia’s membership and impose tougher sanctions on Moscow.
“I didn’t sleep today,” said Alona Chebarok, a 36-year-old artist attending the protest with her mother. “Every day is sad. Everything is in ruins. It’s just awful. We’re learning of so many horror stories now, because before we were too busy trying to get out.”
Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura contributed reporting.
