Two years ago, on September 27-28, 2015, several hundred protesters (nearly 1,500 during the two days), including Ukrainians, Georgians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Circassians and others, gathered outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York to protest the arrival of President Vladimir Putin. It was the first time in 10 years that Mr. Putin had chosen to address the opening of a session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Within the U.N. General Assembly main hall, a silent protest where activists, parliamentarians and diplomats unfurled a battle-scarred Ukrainian flag from the 2014 fighting in Ilovaisk, caused those protesters to be removed from the gallery.
As the protesters were being escorted out of the main hall, the gathering of demonstrators outside chanted “Crimea is Ukraine,” and “Justice for MH17.”
During the street demonstration, protest leaders highlighted complaints against Mr. Putin and Russia, including Russia’s ongoing military conflicts in eight distinct zones, Mr. Putin’s willful violation of the U.N. Charter by invading Ukraine, and the growing list of political prisoners who are being held in many of Russia’s most infamous prisons.
Organizing the protest, the American European Solidarity Council partnered with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America to mobilize Ukrainians beyond New York City.
Mr. Putin, in his address, attempted to distract from Russia’s role in Ukraine’s Donbas conflict zone and Crimea, and instead focused on the devastation from the war in Syria and cast himself as the leader of an international coalition in the fight against the so-called Islamic State.
The U.S. government did not take the bait and instead indicated that it would continue to offer support to Ukraine. On September 29, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum authorizing the U.S. State Department to grant up to $20 million in defense items and services to Ukraine, including military education and training. The memorandum also allocated $1.5 million in non-lethal items and services.
Presidents Obama and Petro Poroshenko, in their respective remarks, reminded the assembly that Russian aggression was responsible for Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the ongoing violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
During his visit to the U.N., Mr. Poroshenko met with British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaders voiced support for Ukraine, with Germany committing to finalizing the Free Trade Area with the European Union and Britain committing to ongoing military training exercises with Ukraine.
This year, rhetoric has included talks on a plan for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed in Ukraine’s Donbas region, with Ukraine and many in the international community taking the stance that the peacekeepers’ mandate should include the conflict zone up to the border of Ukraine with Russia to halt the flow of supplies from Russia illegally entering Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, suggests that the peacekeepers should maintain positions on the line of conflict in Ukraine. Based on Russia’s past pattern of behavior, and as we’ve seen with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, it is believed that the Kremlin will try to prolong its military presence in Ukraine indefinitely and cover up its war crimes.
Sources: “Hundreds protest Putin’s arrival at United Nations,” by Andrij Dobriansky, and “At U.N., Putin shifts world attention from Ukraine with Syrian campaign,” by Zenon Zawada, The Ukrainian Weekly, October 4, 2015.