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STORY: UN / UKRAINE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
TRT: 03:47
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 24 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
24 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Various shots, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariana Betsa walks up to General Assembly rostrum
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariana Betsa Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine:
“Russia's war of aggression has shattered peace in Europe and around the globe and stuck at the very core of the UN charter and the fundamental principles of international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-use of force. Russia's war of aggression is imperial and now colonial in its nature. What Russia wants to do, what Kremlin wants to do, is to divide the world into spheres of influence, and to make Ukraine as a satellite. Russia will not succeed.”
4. Med shot, Russian delegation
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariana Betsa Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine:
“Russia continues to demonstrate no genuine willingness to stop this aggression. Just throughout one week, from 8 to 15 February 2026, Russia launched about 1,300 attack drones, more than 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and 50 missiles against Ukraine, most of them ballistic. On the contrary, Ukraine has shown clear and good faith readiness to pursue peace, including through compromises which are extremely difficult for us, such as accepting the cessation of hostilities along the line of contact.”
6. Med shot, Russian delegation
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariana Betsa Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine:
“And this is not merely a war against a state. It's a war against people. It's a war against rules. It's a war against law. It's a war against humanity. Madam President, Ukraine did not choose this war. Ukraine chooses peace. Ukraine chooses life. Ukraine chooses independence, and freedom.”
8. Med shot, Ukrainian delegation
9. Wide shot, Russian Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva walks up to General Assembly rostrum
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna M. Evstigneeva, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“If the true goal is really peace, then actions must corroborate words rather than contradict them. If the Kyiv regime were truly interested in achieving lasting peace, it would focus its efforts on diplomacy, on seeking mutually acceptable solutions, on working out durable security guarantees for both Russia and Ukraine.”
11. Med shot, Ukrainian delegation
12. Wide shot, Evstigneeva at the rostrum
13. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna M. Evstigneeva, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“The draft resolution is titled Support for Lasting Peace in Ukraine, but its content focuses primarily on the demand for an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities. A ceasefire in itself can be an important element of a settlement, but it is not an end in itself. History knows many examples when a hasty truce that did not address the root causes of the conflict turned into just a pause before a new round of violence. It is clear that Kyiv, facing serious difficulties on the front line as well as dwindling support from its Western sponsors, is primarily interested in a pause so that it can regroup and rearm.”
14. Various shots, voting board
15. UPSOUND (English) Tania Serafim Yvonne Romualdo, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Cabo Verde:
“The result of the vote is as follows; In favour 107; against, 12; abstentions, 51. Draft resolution A/ES.11/L.17 is adopted.”
16. Various shots, applause
Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly with 107 votes in favour, 12 against and 51 abstentions, today (24 Feb) adopted a resolution reaffirming its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Speaking before the vote, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariana Betsa said, “Russia's war of aggression has shattered peace in Europe and around the globe and stuck at the very core of the UN charter and the fundamental principles of international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-use of force.”
Betsa said, “Russia's war of aggression is imperial and now colonial in its nature. What Russia wants to do, what Kremlin wants to do, is to divide the world into spheres of influence, and to make Ukraine as a satellite” and stressed that Russia “will not succeed.”
She said the Russian Federation “continues to demonstrate no genuine willingness to stop this aggression,” while, “on the contrary, Ukraine has shown clear and good faith readiness to pursue peace, including through compromises which are extremely difficult for us, such as accepting the cessation of hostilities along the line of contact.”
The Ukrainian official said, “this is not merely a war against a state. It's a war against people. It's a war against rules. It's a war against law. It's a war against humanity,” and added that “Ukraine did not choose this war. Ukraine chooses peace. Ukraine chooses life. Ukraine chooses independence, and freedom.”
For her part, Russian Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said, “if the true goal is really peace, then actions must corroborate words rather than contradict them. If the Kyiv regime were truly interested in achieving lasting peace, it would focus its efforts on diplomacy, on seeking mutually acceptable solutions, on working out durable security guarantees for both Russia and Ukraine.”
Evstigneeva said the draft resolution “focuses primarily on the demand for an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities” adding that, “history knows many examples when a hasty truce that did not address the root causes of the conflict turned into just a pause before a new round of violence.”
She said it was “clear that Kyiv, facing serious difficulties on the front line as well as dwindling support from its Western sponsors, is primarily interested in a pause so that it can regroup and rearm.”
The resolution calls for an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire between the Russian Federation and Ukraine; reiterates its call for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations; reiterates its call for the complete exchange of prisoners of war, the release of all unlawfully detained persons, and the return of all internees and of civilians forcibly transferred or deported, including children, as a significant confidence-building measure; and decides to adjourn the eleventh emergency special session of the General Assembly temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly to resume its meetings upon request from Member States.
A motion for division presented by the United States aiming to delete two paragraphs from the draft was defeated.
