琳达·托马斯-格林菲尔德大使在联合国大会乌克兰问题紧急特别会议上的讲话 

美国驻联合国使团
新闻和公共外交办公室
2022 年 3 月 2 日 
主席先生、秘书长先生、各位代表，以及所有献身于本机构崇高使命的人士：今天，我们在此要求俄罗斯停止其无端、无理和违背良知的战争。我们要求俄罗斯尊重乌克兰的主权和领土完整。我们要求乌克兰的另一个邻国白俄罗斯，你们刚刚听到他们的发言，停止支持这场战争，停止允许其领土被用来为这一侵略行径提供便利。今天，我们共同站在一起，对俄罗斯违反国际法的行径追究责任，并应对这场发生在我们眼前的骇人听闻的人权和人道主义危机。
这是一个非凡的时刻。这是安理会 (Security Council) 四十年以来首次召开联合国大会紧急特别会议。四十年了。当联合国上一次以这种方式团结起来争取和平时，大多数目前在乌克兰浴血奋战的人们甚至还没有出生。我还敢说，在座的许多人在那个时候也尚未出生。但是，一些最年长的乌克兰人和俄罗斯人可能都会回忆起这样一个时刻：一个侵略成性的欧洲国家无端地悍然入侵另一个国家，以夺取邻国领土；一个欧洲独裁者宣布他将恢复其帝国的昔日荣耀；一次入侵导致了一场令人发指的战争，那场战争也促成了这个组织的诞生。
当前，联合国面临着比在近代史上任何时期都更为严峻的挑战。如果说到联合国的宗旨，那就是防止战争，那就是谴责战争，那就是终止战争。这就是我们今天在这里的工作。这就是你们被派到这里要做的工作，派你们来此工作的不仅仅是你们的国家，而是全人类。
我们面临的这一独特时刻是许多事情迅速发生的结果。就在不到一周以前，正值安理会召开紧急会议以期促进外交斡旋和局势降级之际，就在那个时刻，普京总统 (President Putin) 在夜深人静之时对我们的联合国成员国发动了全面入侵。就在安理会讨论和平之际，普京宣布开战。乌克兰人民奋起自卫，英勇顽强。
正如昨晚拜登总统在国情咨文中所说的那样，普京总统“遇到了他从未料到或想象到的一堵力量之墙。他所面对的是乌克兰人民”。但是，俄罗斯赤裸裸的滥杀式进攻已经为整个乌克兰带来了毁灭性的可怕后果。俄罗斯轰炸了居民公寓楼。俄罗斯轰炸了神圣墓地。俄罗斯炮击了幼儿园、孤儿院和医院。俄罗斯导致大批人遭受饥饿，导致许许多多人逃离家园——根据联合国最新估计，难民人数很快将接近100万。我们要向那些开放边界、敞开心怀、为逃离乌克兰的人们打开家门的国家表示感谢。我要重复联合国难民署 (UN Refugee Agency) 发出的呼吁，请人们帮助和欢迎所有逃离军事冲突的人，不分种族或国籍。难民就是难民。
对于那些留下来的人们，俄罗斯正在摧毁关键的基础设施，这些关键服务设施为乌克兰各地数百万人供应维持生命所需要的饮水和不被冻死所需要的天然气。而现在，俄罗斯似乎正在准备以更为残酷的方式展开对乌克兰的进攻。我们从视频看到，俄罗斯军队正在乌克兰部署一些根本不应在战场上出现的极其致命的武器，包括集束炸弹和真空炸弹。这些都是《日内瓦公约》(Geneva Convention) 所禁止的。我们都已经看到，一个长达 40 英里的致命车队正在向基辅逼近。普京总统继续将战争升级，将俄罗斯的核力量置于高度戒备状态，并威胁入侵芬兰和瑞典。俄罗斯在这场战争中的每一步都是对联合国的背叛。俄罗斯的行径与这个机构所代表的一切背道而驰。    
世界各地的人们已经像联合国大会今天所必须做的一样团结起来，反对俄罗斯发动战争。以蓝色和黄色为标志的声援乌克兰人民的抗议和守夜活动已在全球范围内如雨后春笋般涌现。这些是要求和平的抗议。从曼谷到布达佩斯，从柏林到布宜诺斯艾利斯，从悉尼到首尔，从卡尔加里到开普敦，甚至在莫斯科和明斯克，世界各地的人们都站起来呼吁普京总统停止攻击。
俄罗斯人民自己也在问：普京究竟想要牺牲多少人的生命来满足他的无情野心。他们对这一问题的答案感到震惊。我想对那些俄罗斯抗议者说声谢谢，感谢你们的勇敢精神。对于那些被派往前线进行一场不公正、不必要战争的俄罗斯士兵们，我要说：你们的领导人在向你们撒谎。不要犯下战争罪行。尽一切可能放下武器，离开乌克兰。
这场战争实际上是一个人的选择，是独自一个人的选择：这个人就是普京总统。他选择迫使数十万计的人们放弃正常生活，冒着生命危险逃离国家；将新生婴儿送入临时防空洞；让患有癌症的儿童挤在医院的地下室，治疗中断，这实际上是致他们于死地。这些都是普京总统的选择。现在是我们做出选择的时候了。
美国选择与乌克兰人民站在一起。我们正在与我们的盟友和伙伴协调一致，选择让俄罗斯承担严重后果。我们选择让俄罗斯对其行为负责。我们很快就将对这样一项决议进行投票。我们相信这是一项简单的投票。如果您认为包括您自己国家在内的联合国成员国有权享有主权和领土完整，请投赞成票。如果您认为应该追究俄罗斯的责任，请投赞成票。如果您相信应当维护《联合国宪章》以及这个机构所代表的一切，请投赞成票。
非常感谢。

Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN General Assembly Emergency Special Session on Ukraine

Ambassador Linda Thomas-GreenfieldU.S. Representative to the United NationsNew York, New YorkMarch 2, 2022
AS DELIVERED
Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to the noble mission of this institution: Today, we call on Russia to stop its unprovoked, unjustified, unconscionable war. We call on Russia to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We call on another neighbor of Ukraine, Belarus, who you just heard from, to stop supporting the war and stop allowing its territory to be used to facilitate this aggression. And today, we stand together in holding Russia accountable for its violations of international law, and to address the horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis unfolding before our very eyes.
This is an extraordinary moment. For the first time in 40 years, the Security Council has convened an Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly. Forty years. Most of the men and women fighting in Ukraine were not even born the last time the United Nations came together in this way to unite for peace. And I would venture, that many of the people in this room were not born when that happened. But a few of the eldest Ukrainians and Russians might recall a moment like this. A moment when one aggressive European nation invaded another, without provocation, to claim the territory of its neighbor. A moment when a European dictator declared he would return his empire to its former glory. An invasion that caused a war so horrific that it spurred this organization into existence.
Now, at more than any other point in recent history, the United Nations is being challenged. If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war, it is to condemn war, to stop war. That is our job here today. It is the job you were sent here to do – not just by your capitals, but by all of humanity.
A lot has happened very quickly to bring us to this unique moment. It was barely a week ago when, in the dead of night, President Putin launched a full-scale invasion of our fellow UN Member State at the very moment – at the very moment – the Security Council was holding an urgent meeting attempting to foster diplomacy and de-escalation. As the Security Council discussed peace, Putin declared war. Ukraine has defended itself with great courage and vigor.
As President Biden said in his State of the Union address last night, President Putin “met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.” But the brazen and indiscriminate nature of Russia’s attacks has had devastating, horrific consequences for the entire country. Russia has bombed residential apartment buildings. It has bombed sacred burial grounds. It has shelled kindergartens and orphanages and hospitals. Russia has spurred mass hunger and caused so many to flee their homes – the latest UN estimates are marching toward a million people. We thank the countries who have opened their borders, who have opened their hearts, opened their homes to those fleeing Ukraine. And I want to echo the UN Refugee Agency’s call to help and welcome all those fleeing conflict, without regard to race or nationality. Refugees are refugees.
For those who remain, Russia is destroying critical infrastructure – vital services which provide millions of people across Ukraine with drinking water to stay alive, gas to keep people from freezing to death. And now, it appears Russia is preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign against Ukraine. We have seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. That includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs – which are banned under the Geneva Convention.* We all have seen the 40-mile-long lethal convoy charging toward Kyiv. President Putin continues to escalate – putting Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert, threatening to invade Finland and Sweden. At every step of the war, Russia has betrayed the United Nations. Russia’s actions go against everything this body stands for.
People across the world have already united together in exactly the way this General Assembly must do today. Protests and vigils against Russia’s war, and in solidarity with Ukraine, marked with blue and yellow, have sprung up across the globe. These are protests for peace. From Bangkok to Budapest. From Berlin to Buenos Aires. From Sydney to Seoul. From Calgary to Cape Town. And even in Moscow and Minsk. People everywhere are standing up to call for President Putin to stop this attack.
The Russian people are themselves asking how many lives Putin will sacrifice for his cynical ambitions. And they are appalled at the answer. To the Russian protesters, I say thank you – thank you – for your bravery. To the Russian soldiers sent to the front lines of an unjust, unnecessary war, I say: your leaders are lying to you. Do not commit war crimes. Do everything you can to put down your weapons and leave Ukraine.
The truth is that this war was one man’s choice and one man alone: President Putin. It was his choice to force hundreds of thousands of people to stuff their lives into backpacks and flee the country. To send newborn babies into makeshift bomb shelters. To make children with cancer huddle in hospital basements, interrupting their treatment, essentially sentencing them to death. Those were President Putin’s choices. Now it’s time for us to make ours.
The United States is choosing to stand with the Ukrainian people. We are choosing, in coordination with our allies and partners, to impose severe consequences on Russia. We are choosing to hold Russia accountable for its actions. And we will soon turn to vote on a resolution that does just that. We believe this is a simple vote. Vote yes if you believe UN Member States – including your own – have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity. Vote yes if you believe Russia should be held to account for its actions. Vote yes if you believe in upholding the UN Charter and everything this institution stands for.
Thank you very much.
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