The non-use of nuclear weapons did not prevent mass destruction, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said speaking at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

"This hall saw many wars but not as an active defender against the aggressions. In many cases, the fear of war, the final war, was the loudest here – the war after which no one would gather in the General Assembly Hall again. The Third World War was seen as a nuclear war," he said.

The 20th century, the president said, "taught the world to restrain from the use of the weapons of mass destruction – not to deploy, not to proliferate, not to threaten with, and not to test, but to promote a complete nuclear disarmament."

"This is a good strategy. But it should not be the only strategy to protect the world from this final war," Zelenskyy said.

Recalling that Ukraine had given up its third-largest nuclear arsenal, Zelenskyy said "the world then decided Russia should become a keeper of such power. Yet, history shows it was Russia who deserved nuclear disarmament the most, back in the 1990s."

"And Russia deserves it now – terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons. No right," Zelenskyy said, noting that while nuclear weapons remain, mass destruction is gaining momentum. "The aggressor is weaponizing many other things and those things are used not only against our country but against all of yours as well," the president said.

He gave the example of blocking Ukrainian ports on the Black and Azov Seas. "To this day, our ports on the Danube River remain a target for missiles and drones. And this is a clear attempt by Russia to weaponize food shortages on the world market in exchange for recognition of some, if not all, captured territories," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of "turning nuclear power plants of other countries into real dirty bombs." "Look please what Russia did to our Zaporizhzhia power plant – shelled it, occupied it and now blackmails others with radiation leaks. Is there any sense to reduce nuclear weapons when Russia is weaponizing nuclear power plants? Scary question," he said.

The President of Ukraine again recalled the tens of thousands of deportees. "The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for this crime. We are trying to get children back home but time goes by. What will happen to them? Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine, and all ties with their families are broken… This is clearly a genocide," Zelenskyy said.