UN chief to address Security Council on Ukraine on Thursday

WASHINGTON

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address the Security Council on May 5 to address the situation in Ukraine, the US's UN envoy announced on Tuesday.

The US holds the council presidency for the month of May, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters at the UN's New York headquarters that the body "will of course be seized with Russia's war in Ukraine as this council has been for the past several months."

Guterres concluded a visit to Ukraine last week after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and continued his appeal for a rapid end to hostilities, saying "the sooner this war ends, the better."

Over 3,100 civilians in Ukraine have been killed and more than 3,300 injured since Russia began its war in late February, according to the UN, which says the true toll is likely much higher.

Thomas-Greenfield said that in addition to Thursday's meeting on Ukraine, the US intends to hold a vote on its draft resolution on North Korea, which is expected to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang in retaliation for successive missile tests it has undertaken in defiance of existing UN sanctions.

"We're very concerned about the situation there, the numerous violations of Security Council resolutions that the DPRK has engaged in, and it is our hope that we can keep the council unified and condemning those actions by the DPRK," she said.

She was referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Thomas-Greenfield appealed to the council in March to tighten the screws on North Korea after it test fired a weapon believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

She said then that the threats posed by Pyongyang’s new weapons systems extend to virtually “every UN member state.”

“It is clear that the DPRK has escalated its provocations with impunity while the council has remained silent. And it is clear that remaining silent in the hope that the DPRK will similarly show restraint is a failed strategy,” she said.

“We must pivot to a successful one. The Security Council must speak publicly and with one voice to condemn the DPRK’s unlawful actions, and encourage the DPRK to return to the negotiating table,” she said.