Pakistan ‘alarmed’ as Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifies, urges immediate ceasefire to restart diplomacy

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 28 (APP):Pakistan expressed deep concern over the rising civilian casualties and harm to critical global food and energy infrastructure in the Russia-Ukraine war,  urged an immediate ceaasefire and a return to diplomacy when the UN Security Council met in an emergency session on Monday.

“The ripple effect of such actions negatively impact lives and livelihoods far beyond the conflict zone, especially in the Global South,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 15-member Council, which was requested by Ukraine.

The Pakistani envoy spoke after UN officials warned the Security Council that intensified hostilities in Ukraine and systematic attacks on Black Sea ports are exacting a heavy civilian toll, disrupting maritime trade and threatening global food security.

“We are alarmed by the reported targeting of humanitarian actors and associated infrastructure,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad said, calling the harm to the civilians and civilian infrastructure “reprehensible.”

He called on the parties to abide by their International Humanitarian Law obligations, as their violation risks escalation, deepens mistrust, exacerbates human suffering, and further diminishes the prospects for peace.

“It is evident that durable peace and stability could only be achieved if the parties were to commit to an earnest, sustained and meaningful dialogue,” reiterating that quest for a military solution will only lead to more devastation and suffering and consequences beyond the region.

The Pakistani envoy underscored the need for the implementation of the Security Council Resolution 2774, proposed by the US and supported by Pakistan and other Council members, that reiterated the principle of peaceful settlement of dispute, implored to bring a swift end to the conflict and urged a lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russia.

“We, therefore, underscore the need for an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities, creating space for diplomacy, and the resumption of dialogue,” the Pakistani envoy said.

“A mutually acceptable peaceful settlement, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and corresponding to the legitimate security interests of all sides and the relevant multilateral agreements remains the only viable path,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad added.

At the outset of the debate, Kayoko Gotoh, Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said that Since 9 July, more than 170 civilians reportedly have been killed across Ukraine due to Russia’s aerial attack.

Kyiv, the capital,  has remained under constant bombardment, with the eighth major missile attack on the city striking a residential building just yesterday, she told the Council.

In July alone, at least 56 civilians reportedly have been killed and 232 injured in Kyiv.

With daily attacks also being reported in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, “the summertime escalation has had an increasingly destructive impact on the areas of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation.

The escalation of Russian  attacks on ports and cargo ships in recent weeks raises renewed alarm about the wider regional and global impacts of this war,” Ms. Gotoh continued.

She pointed to the Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, Pivdennyi, Izmail and Mykolaiv, which have seen “renewed, systematic” attacks.

  In the Odesa region, she said, more than six attacks on civilian vessels were reported in July.