Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
“Missiles are not an argument,” the speaker said.
The UN General Assembly is meeting in New York this week with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being high on the agenda.
On the day of the anniversary, February 24, 2026, the General Assembly voted on adopting a text calling for a lasting peace in Ukraine – according to the United Nations press release, out or 193 members, 102 voted for the resolution, 12 against and 51 abstained.
Russia voted against the resolution, as did Belarus.
Security concerns answered with drones and artillery
Several speakers had the opportunity to take the stage and address the assembly, and one of the was the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, Patr Macinka, who took the opportunity to addres the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, directly, even though he was not present.
From the stage, Macinka made it clear, that everything about Ukraine and its situation has already been mentioned, so instead, he had decided to not talk about war, but time – and not about Ukraine, but Russia.
Referring to Russia’s repeated arguments about security concerns as the reason for the fighting in Ukraine, Macinka noted that “time always reveal who spoke of security – and who was dismantling it”.
And he then asked the not-present Lavrov: “Why should your answer to these concerns be drone and artillery?”
“Missiles are not an argument”
Macinka made it clear, than concerns may be legitimate, not clarifying if he meant this applies to the Russian concerns regarding security.
But an invasion is never legitimate, he stated.
“Missiles are not an argument. I consider your missiles to be the physical admission of your own failure.”
It is unknown, if the message from Macinka has reached Lavrov.
You can read Patr Macinkas speech in full on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic here (opens new tab).
Sources: United Nations press release, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
