As fierce fighting continued for Ukraine’s besieged port of Mariupol and around Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided the United Nations for its failure to prevent Moscow’s unprovoked attack on his country.
Almost a month after Russia invaded its neighbor, pitched battles across Ukraine have pushed almost 4 million civilians out of the country and left tens of thousands stranded in cities without utilities and dwindling foods supplies, creating what the Red Cross has called “apocalyptic” conditions.
Speaking to Japan’s parliament on March 23, Zelenskiy said the UN had failed to react in large part because of its fundamental setup, which allowed Security Council permanent member Russia to block any true condemnation or action over its invasion of Ukraine.
“Neither the United Nations nor the UN Security Council have functioned. Reforms are needed,” the Ukrainian leader told Japanese lawmakers in an address via video link.
“We need a tool to preemptively ensure global security. Existing international organizations are not functioning for this purpose, so we need to develop a new, preemptive tool that can actually stop invasions,” Zelenskiy added.
WATCH: As Russian forces continue to pound the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, an estimated 300,000 trapped residents are struggling to survive. Food is running low and there is no running water or electricity in the besieged city, which been encircled by Russian forces.
NATO, the United States, and most other Western allies have said they will not send troops to Ukraine, but instead have launched a series of crippling sanctions on Russia’s economy and those around Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Leaders from the security alliance, including U.S. President Joe Biden, will come together on March 24 in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting, with the White House saying it will use the occasion to announce more sanctions against Moscow.
On the same day, the European Union will hold a summit to discuss Ukraine, while the heads of the G7 group of wealthy nations are also scheduled to meet in the Belgian capital.
Despite the sanctions and diplomatic pressure being exerted on Moscow, the Red Cross says the situation is becoming dire in some parts of Ukraine.
Mariupol, which had a population of 400,000 before the war, has been reduced to rubble, with thousands of civilians dead and many more seeking a route out of the city to safety.
International Committee of the Red Cross President Peter Maurer was in Moscow on March 23 to press officials to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into hard hit areas.
“The devastation caused by the conflict in recent weeks…has been vast,” Maurer said. “There are practical steps guided by international humanitarian law that the parties must take to limit the suffering.”
For the past two weeks, Russia has attempted to encircle Mariupol, an important port on the Sea of Azov and the most contentious battleground in the war so far.
As Mariupol defenders engage in a desperate struggle, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian troops had driven Russian forces from the Kyiv suburb of Makariv following a fierce fight.
If confirmed, the advances would allow Ukrainian troops to retake control of a strategic highway and stymie Russian attempts to surrounded Kyiv from the northwest.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, Current Time reporter Oleksandr Kotenko said that people are struggling to make ends meet beneath the constant bombardment. Current Time is the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
“There has been no electricity, water, gas for more than two weeks. In some places, people…
Read More: Zelenskiy Chides UN As Russian, Ukrainian Forces In Pitched Battles Across The Country