UN chief again calls for Russia to stop invasion of Ukraine

New York [US], February 24 (ANI): United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call for the "fundamental need to honour the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine," as the world body convened to mark the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.
"The United Nations Charter and international law are our guide to creating a world free from the scourge of war. Yet Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine directly violated both," Guterres told a session of the UN Security Council on Friday.
Guterres told the council that Russia's aggression directly violated the United Nations Charter and international law.
The UN Security General said civilians were suffering on both sides of the war.
"It is high time for peace - a just peace, based on the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions," Guterres said.
The Secretary-General also voiced deep concern over the danger of the conflict escalating and expanding "is very real".
"Around the world, the war is deepening geopolitical divides. Fanning regional instability. Shrinking the space available to address other urgent global issues," he said.
Guterres said that since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "we have had two years of fighting, two years of suffering, two years of stoking global tensions and straining global relations."
"Enough," he stressed, noting that scorning the Charter has been the problem, and honouring it is the solution.
On Friday, some 50 UN members, including the US, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, released a statement calling for Russia to withdraw immediately from Ukraine and for countries including North Korea to stop providing weapons to Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba read out the statement at the UN headquarters in New York, Kyodo News reported.
Meanwhile, foreign leaders have begun arriving in Kyiv to mark the second anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in the Ukrainian capital this morning, according to a government source traveling with Trudeau, according to CNN.
Writing on social media platform X, Trudeau said Canada's support for the Ukrainian people remains "steadfast."
Canada has also introduced a ban on exporting goods to Russia that "could be used to make weapons," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement on Friday as reported by CNN.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who is in "In Kyiv to mark the anniversary of the 2nd year of Russia's war on Ukraine. And to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people," von der Leyen wrote on X.
"More than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free," von der Leyen said.
The United Kingdom on Saturday announced a 245-million-pound munitions package to boost Ukraine's artillery reserves.
"The UK will spend nearly a quarter of a billion pounds throughout the next year to procure and invigorate supply chains to produce urgently needed artillery ammunition to boost Ukraine's reserves," the UK government said in a statement. (ANI)