President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in favor of Russia's exclusion from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

"Why are representatives of Russia still among you? What are they doing at UNESCO? Can there be representatives of a terrorist state in UNESCO that is proud of what destruction it is doing in another country?" he said on Tuesday, speaking to the organization via video link.

"We need new steps that the terrorist state will feel. It certainly cannot chair one of the key bodies – the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Such a Russian presidency devalues the very reputation of UNESCO. The terrorist state must be excluded from all bodies of UNESCO and from the organization itself. Let this be a historical example in the world that no one will tolerate an enemy of culture, an enemy of education, an enemy of science," he said.

The President urged "to give a clear signal that the world will not turn a blind eye to the destruction of our common history, our common culture, our common heritage."

"One of the steps should be to preserve the historical center of Odesa – a beautiful city, an important port on the Black Sea and a source of culture for millions of people in different countries," he said.

According to him. Ukraine, together with partners, has prepared a nomination dossier for Odesa to be included in the World Heritage List. "I am asking you to initiate an extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee to resolve this issue for Odesa," he said, stressing that "Odesa is a target for Russian strikes."