EU Statement – UN Security Council: Ukraine

EU Statement - UN Security Council: Ukraine

8 June 2026, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by H.E. Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the UN Security Council: Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine

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President,

I have the honor of delivering this statement on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, as well as Andorra and Monaco, align themselves with this statement.

I thank the Colombian Presidency for convening this meeting. Thank you to the briefers for their updates.

The interventions of this Council were still echoing in this chamber last Monday, as we gathered in response to a Russian drone strike in Romania, when Russia was already launching another massive air strike against Ukrainian cities and their population. With wave after wave of deadly strikes against civilians, Russia attempts to compensate for four years of systematic setbacks on the battlefield. It threatens diplomatic representatives in Kyiv. It strikes humanitarian workers and compounds. These attacks, all in flagrant violation of international law, are a concern to us all. No one believes Russia is striking mainly military targets. Already on the blacklist of countries violating children's rights in conflict and with President Putin under an ICC arrest warrant, Russia has now also been listed by the UN Secretary-General for conflict related sexual violence. These violations and the attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must cease.

We often hear Russia complain in this chamber about an alleged lack of empathy for Russian casualties in this war, conflating, as it always likes to do, aggressor with victim. But, speaking of empathy, where is the Kremlin's empathy for the estimated 1000 Russian soldiers it sends to injury and death every single day in the unprovoked and unjustified war that it chose, for more than four years now, to wage against Ukraine? And for the 60.000 Ukrainian civilian casualties, as verified by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, that it has chosen to kill or maim? This bloodshed must stop now, and Russia must end its war of aggression and engage in serious peace negotiations without any further delay.

So why doesn't it? And why does it not accept a full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire, and genuine talks for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter and relevant UN resolutions. We all read the letter from President Zelenskyy last Thursday. We have all heard this call repeatedly from the UN Secretary-General, and from the overwhelming majority of UN members. The EU supports it, and all diplomatic efforts to this end, and we once again urge all members of this Council to ensure that Russia's leadership accepts a ceasefire and engages in good faith. Russia must abandon its maximalist goals against Ukraine, and sit down to talk. And it must stop the attacks and the killing. Enough is enough. Time for a ceasefire now.

Until then, and as Ukraine beats back an aggressor and stands up for its sovereignty as an independent state, it must be able to count on our full support as it exercises its inherent right to self-defence in line with Article 51 of the Charter.

Thank you.

1. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.