Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting – NRC

President Zelensky thanks Rutte for military support

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a telephone conversation on Wednesday evening for the military support that the Netherlands gives to Ukraine, ANP news agency reports. The Netherlands supplies, among other things, sniper rifles, fragmentation vests and radar equipment and will also provide assistance against cyber attacks. Rutte let via Twitter know that the military supplies will soon go to Ukraine and that the Dutch cyber experts are ready to help.

At the beginning of this month, during a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev, Rutte called the supply of defensive weapons still “a very sensitive issue” and emphasized that “all our energy” must be focused on dialogue and de-escalation.

The telephone conversation between Zelensky and Rutte continued about additional sanctions against Russia. European leaders will hold an extra summit on Thursday and Rutte will also have consultations with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. The prime minister said in his tweet that the conversation with the Ukrainian president was also intended to “tune in” in preparation for those meetings.

MinPres Mark Rutte : Just spoke to president @ZelenskyyUa† Good to tune in in the run-up to #EUCO and my conversation with SG NATO @jensstoltenberg tomorrow on Russia’s escalating actions. NL military goods are quickly moving towards Ukraine and NL cyber experts are ready to help. February 23, 2022 @ 21:17

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Zelensky said in a speech from Wednesday to Thursday that an attempt to call Russian President Vladimir Putin had come to nothing. “Today I tried to establish a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation. Silence was the result, while there should be silence in the Donbas.”

The Ukrainian president also addressed the Russian people directly in his speech. “The chance of a war also depends on you,” he said.

Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting

Ukraine requests an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after the self-declared people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have requested military aid from Russia. Foreign Minister Dmytro Koeleba calls the separatists’ request “a further escalation of the security situation.”

Russia recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk on Monday. The size of the territory that the Russians recognize as belonging to the “people’s republics” is much larger than the separatists currently control. Earlier on Wednesday, Kuleba had asked UN member states for help against Russia’s “aggressive plans”. According to him, other countries “cannot sit through” this crisis if the situation gets out of hand.

Also read: Putin advances, but leaves the door to peace a crack

The American company Maxar Technologies reported new military activity in western Russia late Wednesday evening based on satellite images, less than 16 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. It would be military convoys and artillery. The satellite images are not verifiable by international news agencies.