During his speech at the UN Security Council ministerial meeting in New York dedicated to 1000 days of resistance of the Ukrainian people to full-scale russian aggression, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha noted that a new level of escalation on the part of russia has led to the expansion of the geography of the war.

“russia is now aligning itself with such rogue states as Iran and the DPRK. This emerging axis is in an active phase of undermining the global order. The involvement of the regular DPRK troops marks a new level of escalation and global proliferation of war,” the Minister emphasized.

During his speech, the Foreign Minister showed the audience a part of a North Korean KN-23 ballistic missile that was fired at Ukraine.

Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine is aware of North Korea's desire to receive technologies for missile, nuclear, and other military programs from russia in return. According to the Minister, such cooperation will have an impact far beyond the borders of the two countries, including in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Foreign Minister also emphasized that military cooperation between russia and Iran is of a similar nature. He said that the Ukrainian side has evidence that moscow has begun using thermobaric warheads on Iranian Shahed drones to cause maximum damage to Ukrainian infrastructure.

According to the Minister, Tehran is seeking to obtain components and technologies from russia similar to those received by the DPRK. He added that if the two countries increase their cooperation, Iran will have the necessary resources to significantly deteriorate the security situation in the Middle East.

“This war is much larger than Ukraine. And its price for the world can get much higher if we don’t stop russia now,” the Foreign Minister emphasized.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that from February 2023 to October 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine recorded more than 4,600 cases of russia's use of ammunition containing hazardous chemicals.

In this context, the Minister emphasized that today's OPCW report is a timely reminder of all the red lines crossed by moscow.

“The report confirms the evidence provided by Ukraine, in particular a grenade marked RG-Vo and the corresponding soil samples. We have proven that russia uses prohibited chemical substances on the battlefield,” he said.

Andrii Sybiha drew the attention of his colleagues to the colonial nature of russia's war against Ukraine. According to him, russia is trying to seize the territories of Ukraine, which contain rich deposits of manganese ore, uranium, titanium and other resources.

In this context, the Minister called on the entire civilized world community to stop the aggressor from further actions to prevent these critical resources from falling into the hands of russia, North Korea and Iran.

“The world cannot afford peace at any cost in Ukraine. Because in the end, the price will be too high. It might lead to an even larger, possibly global war,” he emphasized.

Andrii Sybiha reminded the audience of the beginning of the russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, emphasizing that a weak response to the beginning of the aggression did not stop russia, but only encouraged further violations.

“russia started the war in the Donbas. Ukraine signed the Minsk Agreements and held almost 200 rounds of negotiations with russia. There were 20 ceasefire agreements. Eight years of peace process had ended when russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. So why should anyone believe that putin will act differently now, or honor new agreements? Not before we raise the price for his aggression,” he said.

The Foreign Minister said that the main principle of the Ukrainian side's approach is to recognize that there can be no compromises on territorial integrity and sovereignty - neither in Ukraine nor anywhere else.

Andrii Sybiha added that the fastest way to end this war is to increase the support Ukraine needs to defend itself and force russia to withdraw its troops. According to him, providing Ukraine with the necessary means and removing artificial restrictions on the use of weapons will accelerate the achievement of a just and lasting peace.

The Minister called for tougher sanctions against russia to deprive the aggressor of funds for war.

“Next year, moscow plans to feed 146 billion dollars into its war machine. At the same time, russia’s shadow fleet can bring at least 120 billion dollars in oil revenues. We must cut these bloody revenues,” he said.

Andrii Sybiha emphasized that there are no grounds to put Ukraine and russia in the same row as “two sides of the war”, because this is not a conflict between two sides, but an aggressive war of the russian aggressor against the sovereign Ukrainian state, which is defending itself. The Minister added that false moral equivalence must stop.

“Let’s realize the price we have already paid for this war. A war that no one wanted except russia. Let’s realize the price we will have to pay for appeasement. Let’s take real action for real peace. Peace through strength,” the Minister summarized.