His Peace Plan Will Save Both Ukraine and the UN, Zelensky Says —
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine promoted his 10-point peace formula to the United Nations Security Council, meant to end Russia’s war in his country. Among the points he referenced was how the plan would revive the UN Charter and trigger long-awaited reform of the Council, including use of the veto by Russia.
The Council meeting, informally called a “Ukraine summit,” was held on Wednesday, the second day of the General Assembly’s high-level week. It was Zelensky’s first physical appearance in the Council since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, although he has addressed the body numerous times in the last 19 months. Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, chaired the session, as the country holds the rotating presidency of the Council for September.
“Veto power in the hands of the aggressor is what has pushed the UN into a deadlock today,” Zelensky said from the Council’s horseshoe table, indirectly referring to Russia, a permanent member of the UN’s most prestigious body. “Veto right should not serve those who are obsessed with hatred and war.” Through the veto, the permanent members, who also include the United States, Britain, China and France, can stop a draft resolution in its tracks. At the Council session, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also participated, but Zelensky and his retinue left the chamber before Lavrov arrived, performing diplomatic choreography.
(Zelensky spoke first, before the Council’s 15 members, infuriating Russia’s ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, who raised procedural questions on the matter for about 20 minutes, but Rama of Albania dismissed them, saying to Nebenzia, prompting snickers in the chamber: “You stop the war and Zelensky won’t take the floor.” He added: “Don’t provoke me,” as Nebenzia backed off and checked his phone.)
Zelensky has been tirelessly promoting his peace plan to UN member states and elsewhere since the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-on invasion last year. In the Council on Sept. 20, he focused on the plan’s fifth point, which he called a solution for the “implementation of the UN Charter and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the world order.”
The sixth point of the plan requires the withdrawal of Russia from Ukraine, so the overall proposal is organically problematic, but Zelensky suggested suspending use of the veto in the Council “in cases of mass atrocities against human rights” — an idea pushed by France and Mexico in 2015 — and “increasing the number of Security Council seats to reflect the will of nations from Asia, Africa, Europe, both Americas and the Pacific region.”
That is not a new idea, either. He also proposed creating an “early response” tool to prevent “aggression through early response to actions violating territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.”
Some Council members noted other peace initiatives. Mariam Almheiri, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of climate change and environment, among other official roles, said, “We welcome the role played by countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China as well as the African peace initiative and supporting all possible routes to a peaceful settlement.”
Zelensky left the Council, which was packed with UN delegates, shortly after delivering his remarks but not before urging members states to replace “rhetoric” with “real solutions” in their work at the UN. “I know that [the] UN is capable of more,” he said. “I’m confident that the UN Charter can actually work for the sake of peace and security globally.”
Zelensky is heading to Washington next, where he is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden — presumably having caught up with him at the UN, where Biden spoke to the General Assembly on Tuesday — and members of the US Congress on Thursday.
When Lavrov had the floor, he accused Zelensky’s peace formula of “encouraging anti-Russian” policies and insisted that despite his country’s invasion, Russia respects and applies all provisions of the UN Charter.
Blinken, who was not in the room when Zelensky spoke, looked directly at Lavrov as he read his long speech. When Blinken gave his remarks, he echoed Biden’s speech on Tuesday, telling member states not to grow “weary” of the war in Ukraine.
“President Putin is betting that if he keeps doubling down on the violence, that if he’s willing to inflict enough suffering on enough people, the world will cave on its principles and Ukraine will stop defending itself,” Blinken said. “But Ukrainians are not giving up.” Blinken also gave an affirming nod to Zelensky’s peace formula, saying: “President Zelensky has put forward a 10-point plan for . . . peace. President Putin has put forward nothing.”
Despite Zelensky’s call for less rhetoric and more action, some Council members, both permanent and elected, recycled platitudes in their speeches on the war, as it grinds on and the Council meets at least monthly on the humanitarian disasters from the conflict.
What was missing from the members’ speeches were concrete proposals toward conflict prevention and related steps. Robert Abela, Malta’s prime minster, spoke of the vague need to “continue to invest in our multilateral system.” Alain Berset, president of Switzerland, highlighted his country’s commitment to “alleviating the suffering of [Ukraine’s] civilian population” by taking in refugees and delivering humanity aid.
Additionally, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan condemned Russia’s aggression “in the strongest terms” and suggested overcoming the aggression against Ukraine by rooting the Council in a “spirit of solidarity,” while Ghana’s President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo spoke about the need for countries to “reconcile with the spirit of the UN Charter.”
For its part, Brazil’s minister of foreign affairs, Mauro Vieira, announced that with the war in Ukraine in mind, his country, which assumes the presidency of the Council in October, would organize “a high-level open debate on the contributions of regional, subregional and bilateral arrangements to the prevention and peaceful resolution of disputes.”
He said: “I count on your participation in October.” — DAWN CLANCY
Nigeria Wants More Western ‘Partnerships’ for Africa as Major Problems Persist Back Home
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu addressed major African issues while calling for equal partnerships with the global West, but Nigerian analysts contend he must first show strong leadership back home.
Tinubu spoke during the General Assembly world leaders’ speeches on Sept. 19. He took office on May 29, immediately announcing he was dropping the gas subsidy as one of his first acts. The move doubled transportation costs throughout the oil-producing country of 213 million people, in less than 24 hours. Long queues returned to petrol stations, and many Nigerians had to abandon their cars as fuel costs rose by more than 100 percent. Nigerians accused him of triggering a panic that could have been avoided on his first day in office.
At the UN, Tinubu nevertheless gave a strong speech focusing on many of the problems that Africa faces and that Europe was not ready to deal with Africa on equal terms, said Kelechukwu Ogu, a Nigerian energy analyst who is based in Berkeley, Calif. “But back home in Nigeria, there are a lot of things wrong with Tinubu’s signaling,” he added.
As the new president, Tinubu also had announced a change to the country’s exchange-rate system, describing it as “noxious.” The policy was the first step in a journey of many miles, Mayowa Tijani, an editor at large at TheCable, a Nigerian business news site, told PassBlue. Bottlenecks are still making access to foreign exchange difficult, he noted.
“Devaluation of the naira was inevitable,” he added, referring to the country’s currency. “But not just as a single policy. We need complementary policies that allow for the inflow of FX [foreign exchange] for it to make sense. We don’t have enough guidelines, and supporting mechanisms to make it work efficiently. We also need to make it easier for investors to take their money out.”
Tinubu praised his national policy moves in his speech to the General Assembly, saying the resulting hardship is necessary “to establish a foundation for durable growth and investment to build the economy our people deserve.”
Tinubu also referred to the Marshall Plan of 1948, which tasked the United States with providing the huge resources that helped rebuild postwar Western Europe, saying that Africa could use such a Western partnership to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. “Today, and for several decades, Africa has been asking for the same level of political commitment and devotion of resources that described the Marshall Plan,” he said. “We are not asking for identical programs and actions. What we seek is an equally firm commitment to partnership. We seek enhanced international cooperation with African nations to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.”
Seyi Awojulugbe, a senior analyst at SBM Intelligence, a geopolitical firm in Nigeria, said that beyond the “feel good” speech by Tinubu at the UN, the African continent must offer tangible ways to trigger the partnership that it think it deserves. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is playing such a visible role in contributing to solving the war in Ukraine, for example. Nigeria’s foreign policy is centered on Africa, but its stances in recent years have indicated otherwise.
“Africa has depended on foreign aid from the West for quite a while,” Awojulugbe said. “The best thing for Africa and African leaders right now is to come to the table as a participant and offer something. Lean on our soft and hard powers to show the world what Africa has to offer.”
Tinubu also noted the need to secure the continent’s mineral-rich areas from “pilfering and conflict,” saying that “many such areas have become catacombs of misery and exploitation.” He noted that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has suffered from such degradation for decades, despite the strong UN presence there, including its largest peacekeeping mission, called Monusco. Such “mayhem” in resource-rich places does not respect national boundaries, he added, referring to Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic — all countries undergoing a range of upheavals.
In Nigeria, corruption is endemic among politicians and civil servants. So far, Tinubu has not shown serious indication that his government will forge a different path, experts say. He recently appointed Abubakar Bagudu, an ex-governor who has been jailed and was accused of helping Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s worst looter, to siphon public funds into offshore accounts. “Failures in good governance have hindered Africa,” Tinubu acknowledged at the UN. “But broken promises, unfair treatment and outright exploitation from abroad have also exacted a heavy toll on our ability to progress.”
Tinubu has been Nigeria’s president for four months, Awojulugbe said, so the administration “deserves to be given a chance” to deliver its promises to its citizens. “These reforms are biting Nigerians hard, and the people will naturally turn to the government for succor,” she added. “No doubt, the country’’ books are in a bad state, “but this is where the creativity of the government is needed to help figure out a way to help make things better.” — DAMILOLA BANJO
Algeria’s Edgy About Worsening Violence in the Sahel
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune expressed concern about growing conflict in Africa’s Sahel region — of which his country is part — in his speech on Tuesday at the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City. Algeria will be an elected member of the Security Council for a two-year term starting on Jan. 1, 2024.
After Mali’s transitional government pushed suddenly for the exit of the UN peacekeeping mission (Minusma) from the country by Dec. 31 and is allying with Russia, the Malian authorities, led by President Col. Assimi Goïta, has resumed conflict with Tuareg separatist groups, who are signatories of the 2015 Algiers Peace Agreement. The renewed war and increased violence of terrorist groups in Mali threaten peace and security in the region along Algeria’s southern borders.
“Algeria plays a lead role in international mediation and presides over the monitoring committee for implementation of the Algiers Accord peace and reconciliation agreement,” Tebboune said on Sept. 19 at the UN. “We are resolute in our efforts to overcome the obstacles in that sister nation and we reiterate our position, which is the refusal to resort to force in order to settle conflicts.”
A coup d’état on July 26 in Niger, which shares a border on Algeria’s southeast, has threatened stability and counterterrorism efforts in that country. The Niger military is still holding its elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, hostage, an action that the UN, the Economic Community of West Africa (Ecowas) and the African Union have condemned. Ecowas, which is led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, has threatened a military intervention to restore constitutional order in Niger, a proposal that Algerian authorities have warned Ecowas from doing.
“With regard to developments in Niger, our neighboring country, Algeria reiterates its attachment to the return to a constitutional order through peaceful means, and to make sure that diplomatic and political solutions prevail while respecting the rule of law,” Tebboune said. “We call for vigilance, given the intentions of foreign military intervention, because this could have dangerous repercussions on peace and stability in Niger and then the region as a whole.”
(Relatedly, it is unclear who will represent Niger during the UN General Assembly high-level week; competing rumors say it could be Bazoum’s foreign minister, Hassoumi Massaoudou, or Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Niger’s ambassador to the UN, who is also the new foreign minister in Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani’s cabinet. Ecowas does not recognize the general, who led the recent coup, as president.)
Tebboune also reiterated Algeria’s support for Palestine. Algeria is one of Palestine’s strongest diplomatic allies on the world stage. “I want to appeal to the conscience of the international community to assume its moral and historical responsibility and allow the Palestinian people to regain their rights and decide on their future,” he said.
“I also call on the Security Council to adopt a resolution that would guarantee the two-state solution, which enjoys a consensus from the international community and by virtue of which it will be possible to put an end to the unilateral practices of the occupying authority, starting with the activity of settlement building on occupied Palestinian territory.”
In a readout from the UN Secretary General António Guterres, who met with Tebboune on Sept. 20, they talked about Western Sahara, Libya and Mali, “including the importance of the Malian peace process for the country and the region.” They also discussed “the situation in Niger and in the Sahel region,” but no details were provided. — JOE PENNEY
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Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees all video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
