It is impossible to defeat Russia, its envoy told the UN Security Council
A Russian howitzer fires at Ukrainian positions on November 11, 2023. © Stanislav Krasilnikov / Sputnik
Ukraine’s ambitious plan to defeat the Russian forces has ended in a “complete fiasco,” Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Friday.
The urgent meeting in the UN headquarters in New York was requested by Kiev after Russia carried out large-scale airstrikes and drone attacks in the neighboring country. In his speech, Nebenzia did not mince words, telling Kiev and its supporters that no amount of Western aid can help Ukraine.
“Ukraine does not and will not have resources to achieve a breakthrough or preserve the current situation on the line of contact [between the armies],” Nebenzia said.
“The military plans of the regime in Kiev have ended in a complete fiasco – that is why you should anticipate bad news in the nearest future for yourself and your Ukrainian proxies.”
The Russian envoy stated that additional Western aid would “only prolong the agony” of the Ukrainian government. “A military victory over Russia is a completely unattainable goal,” Nebenzia said.
Read more
Ukraine has wasted a good opportunity to strike a peace deal with Russia during the negotiations held in March and April of 2022, Nebenzia said.
“The time is running out for the regime in Kiev. Its future is, in fact, under serious threat,” the Russian diplomat warned. “At the same time, peaceful Ukrainians, the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture are under no threat, no matter how hard the West is trying to prove the opposite.”
Nebenzia made his comments months after Ukraine’s much-hyped summer counteroffensive failed to win any significant ground. The troops suffered heavy casualties and lost much of their valuable Western-supplied tanks and other equipment.
In a November interview with the Economist, Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top general, described the situation on the battlefield as a “stalemate.” President Vladimir Zelensky has publicly contested his assessment, however.
Ukrainian officials frequently complain about their Western backers’ ability and resolve to continue supplying Kiev with weapons. Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has lamented “the dreadful state of the defense industry” in the EU, after the European bloc had failed to reach its yearly target for delivering ammunition to Ukraine.
