Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told the United Nations Security Council the war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be calmed by talks alone, but that Moscow must be forced into peace.
Zelenskiy has sought the support of Western leaders for what he calls a "victory plan" to end the war that began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of his country in February 2022.
Zelenskiy said the war would end one day but not because "someone got tired of the war" or through a trade with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a reference to proposals that Ukraine cede some territory seized by Russia to settle the conflict.
"This war can't be calmed by talks. Action is needed," he said, thanking nations who have provided Ukraine support.
Zelenskiy sharply criticised Iran and North Korea during his address at the UN General Assembly. (EPA PHOTO)
"Putin has broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own, Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed, forcing Russia into peace, as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," he said.
Zelenskiy took aim at North Korea and Iran for providing arms to Russia for the war, calling them "de facto accomplices" of Moscow.
More than two-and-a-half years since the invasion, Russia controls about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory and has been advancing in the east.
Zelenskiy has said that if his plan is backed by the West, it will have a broad impact on Moscow, including a psychological one that could help compel Putin to end the war diplomatically.
Zelenskiy has said very little so far about his victory plan except that it would act as a bridge to a second Ukraine-led summit on peace that Kyiv wants to hold and invite Russia to later this year.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia spoke up at the meeting to reject the 15-member council's hosting of Zelenskiy.
"Western countries could not refrain from poisoning the atmosphere once again, trying to fill the air time with the hackneyed Ukrainian issue," Nebenzia said of the meeting.
The top diplomats of China and the United States also clashed in the meeting.
"North Korea and Iran are not the only ones aiding and abetting Russia," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council. "China - another permanent member of this council - is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal aggression."
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected US accusations that Beijing's support for Russia was allowing it to continue its war in Ukraine.
"I wish to make it clear that on the Ukraine issue, any move to shift responsibility onto China, or attack and smear China, is irresponsible and will lead nowhere," he told the council.
At least three people died after a direct hit on a residential building in Kharkiv. (EPA PHOTO)
On the battlefront, Russia hit a high-rise apartment block and a bakery in Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv with guided bombs, killing at least three people and injuring 34 more, with others feared trapped under rubble, authorities say.
"The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people," Zelenskiy said on X.
Another Russian strike on Kharkiv. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) The targets of the Russian bombs were an apartment building, a bakery, a stadium. In other words, the everyday life of ordinary people. Russia is a terrorist, and it proves this every day with its own actions, with its choice to wage war, and… pic.twitter.com/Jy44H7MRTGSeptember 24, 2024
Images from the site showed a hole blown through the nine-storey apartment block, several floors of it totally destroyed. The building was hit directly, local officials said.
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messenger that it had already been attacked by Russia at the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"It was almost repaired, windows were installed, it was insulated, and prepared for the heating season. The enemy hit it a second time," Terekhov said, adding that the section of the building that suffered most damage was housing 82 people.
Russia launched eight guided bombs, six of which hit Kharkiv, regional prosecutors said on Telegram. The most densely populated area of the city was targeted, according to Terekhov.