Germany stresses Ukraine global impact before UN summit

Germany stresses Ukraine’s global impact before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed to support countries hardest hit by the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as she headed to the UN General Assembly.

“The brutality of Russia’s war of aggression and its threat to the peace order in Europe have not blinded us to the fact that its dramatic effects are also clearly being felt in many other regions of the world,” Baerbock said.

“We are not only responsible for Europe, but together for the whole world,” she said.

Some 150 leaders from around the world will gather in New York from Tuesday for the United Nations’ massive annual summit, returning in person after two years of pandemic restrictions and video addresses.

The leaders should take the opportunity to “focus on the issues and concerns of our partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world”, Baerbock said.

The focus will also be on “how the horrific crimes committed in the name of Russia in Ukraine can be dealt with and prosecuted”, she added.

“We stand firmly by Ukraine and we will continue to support it — with everything it needs — so that the war and the immeasurable suffering of the people in Ukraine come to an end.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to speak in New York on Tuesday, along with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.