UN General Assembly
2022

We appeal to the rest of the world to see Russia’s aggression for what it is: an attempt to expand its own territory by force, which is completely unacceptable, not just to European neighbours, who rightly worry that we could be next in line if Putin has his way in Ukraine, but also for all who believe in the sanctity of the Charter and the principles of territorial integrity and the political independence of sovereign States. We appeal for the understanding of the General Assembly as a whole: that a war in our backyard, initiated by a permanent member of the Security Council and a nuclear Power, and the resulting influx of millions of Ukrainian refugees to Europe, will obviously exhaust a great deal of our resources and political focus. That will inevitably be the case until the territorial integrity of Ukraine is restored and respected.