(CNN) At the anniversary The beginning of Russia’s war against UkraineUS Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday called on the international community not to let Russian President Vladimir Putin’s crimes become “our new normal” — and appeared to be implicitly downplaying Beijing’s proposal to end the war.
In his remarks to the United Nations Security Council — a year after he told the same forum that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine — Blinken stressed the need for members of the council, which includes China and Russia, to stand up. Basic principles of international order describe the ways in which they can do so.
Blinken listed the atrocities committed by Russia in the past year and spoke of the “inspiring solidarity” shown by Ukrainians in “helping each other withstand Moscow’s relentless onslaught”. He also spoke about “the way the international community has come together”.
“Countries around the world continue to stand with Ukraine because if we abandon Ukraine, we abandon the UN Charter itself, and the principles and rules that make all of our countries safer and more secure: No forceful seizure of land. No. Destroying another country’s borders. No targeting civilians in war.” Blinken said. “If we do not protect these basic principles, we invite a world in which the right, the strong, dominate the weak.”
“That’s the world this organization was created for. Members of this council have a unique responsibility to make sure we don’t return to that,” he said.
The top US diplomat said countries should “reaffirm our commitment to uphold what the UN Charter calls the ‘dignity and dignity of the human person'”, stressing the need to compile evidence of Russian atrocities. Those crimes.
“It’s easy to become desensitized to the horror of Russia’s atrocities day by day, losing our ability to feel shock and outrage,” he said. “But we can never allow Russia’s crimes to become our new normal.”
“Bucha is not normal. Mariupol is not normal. Irbin is not normal. Schools and hospitals and apartment buildings collapsing are not normal. Ukrainian children being stolen from their families and given to people in Russia is not normal,” Blinken said.
“We must not allow President Putin’s callous disregard for human life,” Blinken said. “We must force ourselves to remember that behind every atrocity in this terrible war and in conflicts around the world, there is a human being.”
Blinken stressed the need for a “just and lasting peace”.
China’s proposal
In what could be seen as a dig at China’s newly released 12-point proposal for a “political solution to the Ukraine crisis,” Blinken noted that he expects “many countries will call for peace today,” but “history teaches us. The nature of peace is important.”
“For the peace to be just, it must uphold the principles at the heart of the UN Charter: sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence. For the peace to last, it must ensure that Russia cannot simply rest, regroup, and resume its war. A few months or a few years,” He said. “Any peace that would legalize Russia’s seizure of land by force would weaken the Charter and send a message to aggressors everywhere that they can occupy countries and get away with it.”
The 12-point plan Beijing issued a statement on Friday calling for a ceasefire and resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, saying “all parties should support Russia and Ukraine to work in the same direction and quickly resume direct dialogue on the situation and eventually reach a comprehensive ceasefire.”
Members of the Security Council “must not fall into the false equivalency of calling on both sides to stop fighting or calling on other countries to stop supporting Ukraine in the name of peace,” Blinken said.
“No member of this council should call for peace while supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine and the UN Charter,” he said.
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday, Blinken said the U.S. is “looking at” China’s plan, but warned that Beijing is “trying to have it both ways.”
“There are points in the Chinese plans … that are consistent with what the Ukrainians have been saying for a long time, that China has put it there,” he said. “But look, China is trying to have it both ways. It’s trying to publicly show that it wants neutrality and peace on the one hand, while at the same time it’s telling Russia’s false narrative about the war. Like I said, it’s providing non-lethal aid through its institutions, and now it’s thinking about lethal aid.”
In his remarks at the UN, Blinken also spoke of the need for the UN Security Council to “continue to address other challenges to international peace and security” even as the war ends.
“We hear the concerns of countries that worry that standing with Ukraine and holding Russia accountable will divert attention and resources from others who need it,” Blinken said.
“To those countries, I would say, look at our actions. When you hear Russia and its defenders accusing countries that support Ukraine of neglecting the rest of the world, I say: look at Moscow’s actions,” he said. Compares US contribution to UN programs with Russia’s contribution.
