Addressing the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pinned responsibility for continuing "the ridiculous and never-ending war" squarely on Russian President Vladimir Putin and called on nations of every size to starve Moscow's income and slow its war machine, the Associated Press reported.
"Our target is Russia's ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive," Zelenskyy told the assembly. "Russia's finances and Russia's production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped."
Trade income, Zelenskyy claimed, only hardens Moscow's refusal of diplomacy. "It always says no to diplomacy," he said, adding that "Russia's revenues must remain a target."
That same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clashed with Sybiha and Kyiv's European backers at the UN Security Council, while separately meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the war, the Associated Press noted. Speaking afterward to reporters, Rubio revealed that Moscow and Kyiv had both shown willingness toward a limited ceasefire, one sparing grain exports vital to both economies and pausing strikes on energy infrastructure amid mounting drone and missile assaults.
Calling even a partial truce a tough but worthwhile goal, Rubio noted Zelenskyy's own public backing for it and pledged US assistance toward achieving it. Moscow's Foreign Ministry, in its post-meeting statement, skipped any grain-deal mention and instead repeated demands that the roots of its "special military operation" be addressed.
At the Security Council, Lavrov ruled out any "pause" in Russian military action, warning it would let Europe "pump" weapons into Ukraine, while dismissing energy and grain terms, labeling Kyiv's leadership "terrorists," and framing the campaign as protecting Russia's security and Russian speakers' rights. He is scheduled to speak before the General Assembly on Saturday.
Doubtful of Moscow's sincerity, Zelenskyy said, "Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, 'That's it. Enough. Peace,'" adding, "Can you even imagine him without war? He is 'patient zero', the one from whom this idea of war keeps spreading further."
"The more freedom Putin has to act, the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else," he warned.
The conflict has sent shockwaves across the globe, disrupting fuel, fertilizer and grain shipments worldwide while deepening the rift between Russia and Western nations. Since Moscow's February 2022 invasion, which aimed for a swift capture of Kyiv, Ukraine has held its ground, with front lines largely frozen since last year. Western estimates put Russian military deaths above 500,000 and Ukrainian casualties above the same figure, including up to 140,000 killed; both governments withhold official tallies.
Wednesday's Russian drone barrage on Kyiv killed two and wounded 23, while a Zaporizhzhia mall fire from a separate strike injured two more.
Moscow's Defense Ministry claimed strikes on Ukrainian military, energy and logistics targets, plus vessels, and said over 500 Ukrainian drones were downed across Russian regions, Crimea, and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. Crimea was seized and illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Zelenskyy cited 63,000 Russian attack drones used against Ukraine this year, praising how his country "has proven that even against a much bigger enemy, you can stand and survive," while urging leaders to block Putin's funding and foreign recruits. "Limit his money. Limit his war," he said.
The Ukrainian president further said that Kyiv must strengthen its armed forces and has already tested four new jet-powered interceptor drones successfully against Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia deploys in Ukraine. He warned that AI "will begin to decide what happens on the battlefield" as autonomous weapons advance, and that "we need peace before we reach that point."
"Sometimes, it may seem that Ukraine is focused, focused, only on war because we speak about weapons, we speak about defense and sanctions against the aggressor. But Ukrainians did not choose this war," he said. "We choose not to die. …. We are defending ourselves."
