Ukraine president affirms Western support during UN visit

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addressed the UN General Assembly on Sept. 28, stating that the Donbas war is costing his government USD 5 mln per day. The war has created 1.5 mln displaced persons domestically, he said. “Ukraine strives for peace and prosperity, and together with its partner-states, is applying maximum efforts to address the conflict using peaceful, diplomatic means,” he said. Poroshenko met with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said the illegal elections planned by the Russian-backed forces for Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 will undermine the Minsk accords. He called for sanctions to be applied as the consequence for holding these elections. Cameron reiterated British support for Ukraine, including military instructors and “targeted aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

In a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Poroshenko discussed the measures for launching the Free Trade Area with the EU on Jan. 1, reported the president’s website. They also prepared for the scheduled Oct. 2 talks in Paris in the Normandy format. Poroshenko said he would meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, reported Interfax-Ukraine on Sept. 27, while no meeting was scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nor will Putin meet one-on-one with Poroshenko in Paris for the Oct. 2 talks, reported the RIA Novosti news agency on Sept. 25. Instead, Putin will meet individually with Merkel and French President Francoise Hollande.

Ukraine may become a non-permanent member to the UN Security Council next year, Poroshenko said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists broadcast on Sept. 26. The General Assembly will vote on Oct. 15 for new non-permanent members and “I think our diplomatic efforts, my work in this direction will bear fruit,” he said.

Poroshenko called for reforming the UN “to return its historical mission as a mechanism for global security,” a reference to the Russian vote to undermine a tribunal to establish those responsible for attacking Flight MH17. The French leadership has called for restricting the right to veto for permanent Security Council members, Poroshenko said. The need to reform the UN Security Council was echoed by Merkel, as reported by Reuters.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin walked out in protest of Poroshenko’s address, in which the Ukrainian president referred thousands dead due to “the treacherous Russian annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and aggression in Donbas” and called for “the need to counteract ongoing Russian aggression.”

Putin is scheduled to address the UN today and meeting with Obama. Poroshenko said he hopes this meeting will lead to better implementation of the Minsk accords that are aimed at resolving the war in Donbas, reported the Associated Press on Sept. 28. He expects Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU will coordinate “a firm incentive” for Putin to comply with the Minsk agreements, including forbidding holding fraudulent elections in the coming weeks, giving the OSCE access to all control checkpoints, withdrawing Russian soldiers for occupied territories and securing the border.

Zenon Zawada: From what’s been reported so far, Poroshenko succeeded in fulfilling his goals during his weekend visit to the United Nations. Namely, this involved strengthening international support for Ukraine and drawing attention to the need to reform the UN’s structure, as supported by Western leaders. The biggest indication of his success will become gaining a non-permanent member seat in the Security Council. Failure to gain this seat would be an embarrassment at this point, and we are confident of the success of Ukrainian diplomacy in this endeavor.

Andriy Parubiy, the first deputy head of Ukraine’s parliament, spoke at a forum in the U.S. Congress on Sept. 26 to request lethal weapons for Ukraine. But to the relief of Western leaders, Putin successfully made this a non-issue at the moment by all-but-eliminating the violence in Donbas during the month of September. We are confident no Western nation will offer such lethal arms to Ukraine for as long as diplomatic channels exist with the Russian leadership. These channels have succeeded so far in preventing an expanded invasion of Ukraine, according to news reports. So the West will continue to rely on them.