New York: The UN General Assembly held an emergency session on Wednesday to commemorate the beginning of the war in Ukraine on February 24. Kyiv and its allies hoped to win support for a resolution highlighting the need "to achieve (a) comprehensible, just and lasting peace" in accordance with the UN Charter.

The draught resolution, which has the support of about 60 nations, demands an immediate end to hostilities as well as "immediate, complete, and unconditional" withdrawal of Russian military forces from Ukraine. After speeches by representatives from more than 80 nations on Thursday, the vote is most likely to occur.

The text reiterates the UN's "commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine" and calls for an immediate end to hostilities. However, unlike a Security Council resolution, it lacks the binding force of international law and may increase Russia's isolation on the global stage.

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Kyiv hopes to win over at least as many countries as it did in 2022, when several resolutions denouncing Russia received support from nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba urged the 193-member Assembly to support the resolution because it "will contribute to our joint efforts to bring the war to an end as well as protect the fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter," according to his remarks.

By pledging to protect Ukraine's territorial integrity, the world, according to Kuleba, would send a "strong and clear" message to Russia and deter it from attacking other countries.

He added that the current frontline situation demonstrates that Russians "want war, not peace," and that his nation has no choice but to continue fighting for its existence. They are launching attacks from the Dnipro River to the Russian border along the entire front line.

The foreign minister urged nations that have not publicly declared their support for Ukraine to stop hiding behind "the mask of neutrality" and take a stand in favour of international law and the UN Charter.

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The distinction between good and evil has never been more distinct in recent memory. One nation merely desires to exist. The other desires destruction and murder.

Kuleba claimed that this is the reason why requests to stop providing Ukraine with arms are "badly misplaced."

Helping a country that has been attacked and is lawfully defending itself is entirely acceptable. It is an effort to uphold the UN Charter. It is an action in favour of hastening the end of the war and achieving a secure, equitable peace.

Giving military support to the aggressor is, on the other hand, forbidden and in violation of the Charter. It is a war crime to escalate atrocities, cause destruction, and prolong suffering.

Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has urged the General Assembly to reject the "anti-Russia" draught resolution. Otherwise, the West would be enticed to keep up "their militaristic Russophobic lies using the support of UN member states as a cover."

The UN member states are now much better informed, according to the Russian envoy, and it is therefore harder for the "Western camp to mobilise member states of the UN in support of their crusade against Russia."Nebenzia claimed that over the course of the past year, "it became obvious that the main element of the anti-Russia propaganda campaign conducted by our former Western partners" consists of falsely accusing Russia of waging an aggression on Ukraine motivated by imperial ambitions while ignoring what he called "the resurging new Nazism" in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian crisis has only served as a catalyst for the visceral anti-Russian sentiment to surface, it is becoming abundantly clear. Elites in America and Europe are now infected. They are vying with one another to impose as many sanctions against my nation as possible.

The developing world is being most negatively impacted by the sanctions against Russia, he claimed, and "what is really at stake is the hegemony of the United States and its allies." They don't want anyone to reach the position of ruling the entire planet. They consider it their territory.

The world needs peace in Ukraine, but not just any peace, according to Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for international relations. We require a lasting peace based on the UN Charter's principles.

He stated that the purpose of the EU-drafted resolution is to "reiterate our support for Ukraine and to set forth the principles for peace."

I must emphasise that this is not "a European issue." It's also not "the West versus Russia," he continued. "No, this illegal war affects everyone, including the East, the West, the North, and the South."

He warned the crowd that if Russia's actions in Ukraine are not denounced and stopped, other countries will engage in similar aggression.

According to Borrell, Ukraine has the right to defend itself, and "the EU will continue to give Ukraine the support it needs to defend its population" until Russia ends hostilities and withdraws its forces from Ukraine.

The Russian war, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, "is an affront to our collective conscience (and) a violation of international law that is having dramatic humanitarian and human rights consequences."

He claimed that "far beyond Ukraine" people are still feeling the effects of the war.

"Russia's attack on Ukraine challenges the fundamental principles and values of our multilateral system," I said from the start.

"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat of or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations," Guterres said, quoting the UN Charter.

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According to Guterres, the conflict is "fostering regional instability and igniting tensions and divisions around the world, while deflecting attention and resources away from other crises and urgent global issues."

The UN chief referred to implicit nuclear threat as "utterly unacceptable."