Meeting of the UN Security Council. Photo from the archive The UN Security Council discussed the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine Peace and Security
The UN Security Council, chaired by Russia, discussed the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine on Thursday. The UN Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs provided updated data on the victims of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, recalling that the largest number of Ukrainian children died in June in 2024. An expert invited by Russia warned that arms supplies could provoke an increase in crime in Europe.
UN Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Adedeji Eboh reported that since the last briefing on this topic, which took place in the Security Council on June 14, the Ukrainian armed forces continued to receive military assistance in the form of weapons and ammunition. This assistance, according to the rapporteur, is provided in the context of Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukrainian territory, carried out “in violation of the UN Charter and international law.”
According to publicly available information, these shipments included heavy weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, combat aircraft and helicopters, large-caliber artillery and missile systems, drones, remote-controlled munitions, small arms and light weapons.
Any transfer of weapons must be carried out within the framework of relevant international legal norms, including Security Council resolutions
Adedeji Ebo also said that individual states are transferring or planning to transfer unmanned aerial vehicles, ballistic missiles and ammunition to the Russian armed forces. According to him, a large-scale influx of weapons and ammunition into any armed conflict threatens the peace, security and stability of the entire international community, including through leakage and proliferation after the end of hostilities. “Any transfer of weapons must be carried out within the framework of relevant international legal norms, including Security Council resolutions,” the speaker emphasized.
International agreements
He called on all States to accede to relevant treaties and agreements and to fully implement their legal obligations under the conventional arms control instruments to which they are parties in order to minimize the risk of diversion, illicit trafficking and misuse of weapons and ammunition.
Civilian casualties
Since 24 February 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has confirmed 34,658 civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine: 11,430 people were killed and 23,228 were injured. The actual figures are likely to be much higher, the UN Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs noted. attacks on Russian territory. “Some of these strikes, according to Russian authorities, resulted in civilian casualties,” Ebo said. All parties to an armed conflict, he recalled, must refrain from any actions that could pose a threat to the civilian population. h2>
At the invitation of Russia, Karin Kneissl, founder and director of the company G.O.R.K.I (Geopolitical Observatory on Key Issues of Russia), spoke at the Security Council.
Kneissl is a former Austrian diplomat and Austrian Foreign Minister (2017-19), believes that arms supplies to Ukraine threaten “a sharp increase in organized crime and terrorism in Europe.” To support his position, he cited examples from recent history, including those related to the war in the former Yugoslavia and Syria.
The expert complained that in In Europe, few people think about this. “It is useless to look for a diplomatic approach in EU resolutions,” the speaker emphasized. “Those who ask for negotiations are considered traitors.”