UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE ON THE SITUATION IN THE TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE
26 February 2024
Statement by H.E. Mr James Larsen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
Thank you, Madame President, colleagues,
We gather here, deeply saddened and outraged.
Last Saturday, marked two years since Russia launched its full-scale, illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.
Australia mourns the incalculable losses inflicted by Russia on Ukraine’s people.
We honour their spirit and strength in fighting to defend their nation, freedom and way of life.
Australia continues unequivocally to support Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its ambitions for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace.
We call on the international community to do the same, in line with international law including the United Nations Charter.
And reiterate our call for those with influence on Russia to use this influence to end the war.
We must hold Russia to account:
- for its illegal attempted annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine;
- for its serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as found by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry;
- and for its deportation of Ukrainian children from regions under temporary Russian control, for which the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against both the President of Russia and Russia’s Child Commissioner.
We repeat our calls for Russia immediately to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory.
Russia’s aggression underlines the importance of countries working to maintain peace and to uphold international law including the UN Charter.
Ukraine’s fate matters to us all. Because we cannot allow might to be right.
And any one of us could be next.
Ukraine must be empowered to resolve this war on its own terms.
This is why Australia continues to provide important military, economic and emergency humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and has imposed comprehensive measures against Russia in response to its invasion.
This is why Australia also continues to condemn those providing support to Russia’s illegal war, including Belarus, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Now entering its third year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder of how much we all have to lose if we fail to protect and uphold the United Nations Charter and the broader international legal system.
Thank you.