‘War Remains Stain on Collective Conscience’, Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council as Ukraine War Enters Fifth Year, Urging Ceasefire

'War Remains Stain on Collective Conscience', Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council as Ukraine War Enters Fifth Year, Urging Ceasefire

(Note: Owing to the financial liquidity crisis affecting the Organization, a complete summary of today's Security Council meeting will be available on Wednesday, 25 February.)

As the Russian Federation's war on Ukraine enters its fifth year, the Security Council today heard that ongoing diplomatic efforts must first yield an immediate ceasefire, and then a lasting peace, to finally end the widespread suffering wrought by prolonged conflict.

The Council is meeting in the wake of the General Assembly's Emergency Special Session on the same topic, after months of intensified Russian Federation attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure amidst freezing temperatures. While ongoing diplomatic efforts seek to end the war, 2025 was a particularly deadly year for civilians despite the Council's adoption of resolution 2774 (2025) one year ago on the third anniversary of the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine. Today marks the fourth.

"The war remains a stain on our collective conscience," said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, speaking for the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Spotlighting the cascading consequences of the Russian Federation's invasion - a "blatant violation of international law" - she underscored that the human toll has been catastrophic. "Last year was the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since 2022," she said. And since the start of the war, more than 15,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, more than 41,000 have been injured, millions have been forced to flee their homes and millions more require life-saving assistance.

Adding that "the plight of Ukrainian children is particularly dire", she reported that more than 3,200 have been killed or injured and that "a whole generation has lost years of education". And this winter, the Russian Federation's intensified strikes against Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure have turned access to basic services into "a matter of life and death", she said. Also noting that civilians in the Russian Federation are increasingly affected by reported Ukrainian strikes, she urged both sides to implement an "immediate moratorium" on attacking civilian populations and infrastructure.

She went on to recall the Council's adoption of resolution 2774 (2025) one year ago, which implored a "swift end to the conflict". While commending ongoing diplomatic efforts by the United States and others towards this end, she underlined the need for "concrete" measures to de-escalate the fighting and create space for such efforts to succeed. "The parameters of peace in Ukraine are not a mystery," she said - it must accord with international law and uphold the country's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Calling for an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire, she stressed: "Enough with the death, enough with the destruction, enough with the broken lives and shattered futures."

Moscow Refuses to Accept Empires Are Dead, Keeps Sabotaging Peace Efforts

The root cause of the past 1,461 days of illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war is known to all, stressed Baiba Braže, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia - "Russia's imperial and colonial aspirations". Moscow refuses to accept that empires are dead and continues to sabotage ongoing peace efforts. "The good news is that Russia's aggression is failing," she said, noting that it lost more than 400,000 troops in 2025 alone while capturing less than 1 per cent of Ukrainian territory. Nevertheless, she said that, while Ukraine will stay free and sovereign, "it's time to bring this war to an end".

"This means keeping up the pressure on Russia, and choking off their war machine," stressed Stephen Doughty, Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom, Council President for February. Detailing his country's support for Ukraine, he said that London will continue to stand with Kyiv for as long as it takes to achieve a just, lasting peace. To this end, the United Kingdom is announcing the "largest package of measures since 2022", targeting Russian Federation oil revenues and components fuelling its war machine, he said.

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