Remarks by the President of the General Assembly
H.E. Annalena Baerbock
at the General Assembly: Eleventh Emergency Special Session (resumed) – 23rd Plenary meeting
¡°The situation in temporarily occupied Ukraine¡±
10 AM, Tuesday 24 February 2026
General Assembly Hall
(Delivered by Vice President)
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Four years have passed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
And nearly twelve years have elapsed since the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.
This war, initiated by a permanent member of the Security Council in blatant violation of our Charter, continues to inflict untold suffering on the Ukrainian people.
And even as peace negotiations have been ongoing for some time now, the year 2025 stood as the deadliest for civilians since the start of this invasion.
Since the beginning thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including children, have been killed or injured.
War-related humanitarian needs have only intensified, as the impact of relentless attacks and displacement is felt across the entire length and breadth of Ukraine.
Nearly four million people remain internally displaced, while 5.7 million more live as refugees globally.
Nearly one-third of the population has been forced to flee, including more than half of all Ukrainian children.
This violence spares no one: not mothers or fathers, not grandparents, and certainly not children.
Meanwhile, the systematic destruction of infrastructure has turned once-vibrant cities into hellscapes.
Homes, healthcare facilities, schools, and especially power plants and energy grids have been deliberately targeted and destroyed, leaving people to freeze to death in winters that plunge to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
This constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
In the meantime, the people continue to suffer, mourning the lives, livelihoods, and homes they have lost.
We cannot allow the violation of international law to become the norm, and we must safeguard the founding principles of our Charter.
And this Assembly can lead the way.
When four years ago, the world watched in shock as an estimated 100,000 soldiers amassed on the borders of Ukraine, it would have been easy to remain paralyzed by that shock.
But the Membership chose a different path.
Few could have imagined that the General Assembly, too often dismissed as a body with no real power, would unite so swiftly over a single weekend.
Following the deadlock in the Security Council, the Assembly convened the first meeting of the 11th Emergency Special Session on 28 February 2022.
The Membership came together ¨C and it was necessary that it did.
The world came together to show that this was not merely about Ukraine or Europe: it was about the international peace order and the very Charter of the United Nations.
That was an urgent call then, and it remains an urgent call now as we resume the eleventh emergency special session today.
Since the invasion, the General Assembly has remained clear, resolute, and unwavering.
It has adopted eight resolutions consistently demanding the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.
It has called in these resolutions to uphold the Charter, reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.
Moreover, it has called for the complete exchange of prisoners of war, the release of all unlawfully detained persons, and the return of all internees and civilians forcibly transferred or deported, including children.
One year ago today, this Assembly adopted resolution ES-11/7.
That document highlighted its collective concern that the invasion continues to have devastating and long-lasting consequences, not only for Ukraine, but also for other regions and for global stability.
At a time when the United Nations is under intense scrutiny and the Security Council remains deadlocked, this Assembly has demonstrated its ability to act as the moral voice of the international community.
I welcome all diplomatic efforts that aim to achieve an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire, to end the war and to promote a process towards lasting peace through negotiations.
Any peace agreement must be firmly grounded in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Charter, international law, General Assembly resolutions.
As we have learned from history, this is the only way to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace.
Today, colleagues, the world is watching.
While our focus is on Ukraine, the stakes extend far beyond one country or one region.
Once again, the international peace order is under strain.
Once again, the Charter is being tested.
The Charter does not apply selectively.
If it can be violated in one place, its authority weakens everywhere, and its promises lose meaning.
This concerns Ukraine, but also Myanmar, Venezuela, Gaza, and Sudan.
It concerns peace everywhere.
It concerns us all.
And therefore we all need to stand up and uphold the principles of our Charter.
Every day. Everywhere. For everyone.
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