Russians heard they are colliding with whole world - Polish diplomat at UNSC
The Russians heard that by expanding the conflict, they were clashing with the whole world, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki said at an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC), convened after the Russian drone incursion.
The United Nations Security Council met on Friday night at Poland's request to discuss the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace on the night from September 9 to 10.
"We are here today to express our deep concern and to attract international community's attention to another blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter," Bosacki said before the meeting, presenting a joint position signed by nearly 50 states.
He added that Poland had, for the first time in history, requested an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council as a response to Russia's irresponsible actions, which have brought the entire region closer to a conflict than ever before.
"We did that, we asked for that, to declare that the sky over Poland, my country, sovereign state, has been deliberately violated by Russia," Bosacki said.
He added that the 19 Russian military drones flying over the territory of both Ukraine and Belarus not only breached Polish airspace and trespassed the borders of Poland, but also of NATO, and of the European Union.
Bosacki recalled Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's words from last year, when he said that "the merchants of death are unbothered by the fact that their weapons... methodically, deliberately and intentionally hit civilian targets."
He said that the events in Poland from two days ago prove once again that "every Russian accusation eventually turns out to be a confession."
Bosacki also addressed Russian suggestions that the drones that ended up in Poland did not belong to Russia or that they were there due to a malfunction, mistake, or coincidence.
He showed photos of a downed drone, with Russian lettering on parts of it and accused Moscow of lying, calling the Kremlin's language "neo-Orwellian."
"We in the region remember the same kind of rhetoric by Russian diplomats when Russia, then Soviet Russia, attacked Czechoslovakia in 1968, Hungary in 1956, or Poland. Together with Nazi Germany in September 1939, after the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact," he said.
He reiterated that the scale of the violation of Polish territorial integrity proves that it could not have been the result of a failure or error.
"The way to achieve stability and peace in the region is simple: Russia must stop its barbaric war against Ukraine," Bosacki argued. "Poland will not be intimidated. Our resolve to stand with Ukraine and defend the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity remains unwavering, he concluded.
Most UNSC members, European countries, Panama, and South Korea expressed solidarity with Poland and condemned Russia's actions. The United Kingdom and the United States declared they would defend every inch of NATO territory, and France voiced increased support for Poland's air defence.
US Representative Dorothy Shea condemned this and other actions by Moscow, saying that they "show immense disrespect for good-faith US efforts to bring an end to this conflict."
China, along with most African members of the UNSC, as well as UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, called on Russia to refrain from actions that escalate tensions.
Vasily Nebenzya, permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, repeated Moscow's explanation that Russia did not target Poland during the recent attack on Ukraine, and the maximum range of the drones used in the strike prevented them from reaching Polish territory.
He said that the Russian foreign ministry was ready to engage in reducing tensions.
One of the harshest speeches was delivered by the Ukrainian ambassador, Andriy Melnyk, who warned that the absence of a united response could push Russia into a new wave of escalation that would affect not only Poland but also other European countries and even across the ocean. (PAP)
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