Ukraine calls at UN Security Council for new sanctions regime targeting Russia's nuclear arsenal

By turning Belarus into a nuclear foothold, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is "legitimizing nuclear proliferation," and Russia's trampling of its international obligations cannot merely be condemned, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Andriy Melnyk has said at a UN Security Council meeting.

"By turning Belarus into a nuclear foothold, Putin is legitimizing nuclear proliferation, creating an extremely dangerous precedent for authoritarian regimes around the world and dragging Minsk even deeper into his nuclear blackmail," he said at the meeting on Tuesday.

Melnyk said "such a deliberate violation of all the 'red lines' of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) cannot go unanswered."

"That is why today we call on all nuclear-weapon states – France, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as China – not to ignore or tolerate these threats as mere rhetoric," Melnyk said.

Ukraine's permanent representative said Russia's trampling of its international obligations cannot simply be condemned.

"We need a new sanctions regime targeting Russia's nuclear arsenal," he urged.

In addition, Melnyk recalled that the very next day after the May 9 parade, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin "again resorted to his favorite tactic – nuclear blackmail," announcing tests of the Sarmat intercontinental missile, capable of carrying up to 16 nuclear warheads.

"We all know this scenario: as soon as the Russian regime fails at the front, it immediately resorts to apocalyptic threats and nuclear saber-rattling," Melnyk said.

He also recalled that Putin had recently initiated joint Russian-Belarusian nuclear exercises, and that the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and the holding of joint nuclear drills constitute an unprecedented challenge to the global security architecture.

"These actions directly violate Articles 1 and 2 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which prohibit both the transfer and the receipt of control over weapons of mass destruction," the Ukrainian representative said.

As reported, after Russia's deadly massive attack on Kyiv last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha initiated the convening of a UN Security Council meeting and the use of other international platforms to respond to Russia's killing of Ukrainian civilians.

Later, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Andriy Melnyk said an urgent UN Security Council meeting over Russia's massive attacks against Ukraine's civilian population and critical infrastructure would take place on Tuesday, May 19.