Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the UN is losing global influence and too often fails to deliver real decisions on key security issues. Speaking at a UN Security Council session on 23 September, he said the world must face the reality that Russia is exploiting its veto power to prolong the largest war in Europe since World War II.
If any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia, the US, China, the UK, or France — votes against a specific resolution, this is considered using the veto power, and the decision is blocked.
This way, Moscow prevents the adoption of resolutions condemning its aggression against Ukraine, imposing sanctions, launching peacekeeping missions, or investigating war crimes.
Weakening global attention
“We must admit that the world’s attention to the UN is weakening,” Zelenskyy stressed at the UN Security Council session.
He explained that the organization has less influence and too often lacks real decisions on fundamental issues.
“We need to talk today about the instruments that, unfortunately, do not work. But they will work, I am sure, if you show determination,” he claimed.
Zelenskyy underscored that the world must clearly decide whom to pressure in order to achieve peace, pointing directly at Moscow. He accused Russia of “buying influence and holding peace hostage,” while hiding its true intentions behind delegations.
Russia uses foreign visits and talks only to kill more Ukrainian civilians
“The Russian representative is present here, but of course not the one who makes real decisions. That person (Putin – ed.) is afraid to sit down even with Ukraine and the world and openly admit that he wants only war,” said Zelenskyy.
He added that when Putin appears abroad, in Beijing or elsewhere, it is only to “gain more time for killings, pretending to seek diplomacy.”
On 23 September, Zelenskyy also met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The two leaders discussed the battlefield situation, prisoner-of-war exchanges, and tightening sanctions against Russia.