The 5 Biggest Ukraine Developments From the UN Summit So Far

World leaders will continue to meet, debate and negotiate a host of issues in New York on Wednesday, as the United Nations continues to host a series of summits on the most pressing issues of the day.

Here are the biggest developments relating to Ukraine so far…

Today’s head-to-head

Wednesday is set to be the most dramatic day of the summit as President Zelensky goes face to face with Russian officials for the first time since the launch of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president will give a speech at a special session on the war in front of the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a member and holds veto power against any decisions it makes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in New York late Tuesday, with official media saying he flew a circuitous route to avoid European airspace.

It remains unclear if Moscow’s sharp-tongued top diplomat – himself a former UN ambassador – will attend the Security Council session and face Zelensky, AFP reports.

The potential showdown “could create one of those iconic UN moments,” said Marti Flacks, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Last night’s speech

It won’t be Zelensky’s first speech of the summit, having already addressed the UN General Assembly last night.

Dressed in his trademark military fatigues, Zelensky urged the world to stand firm against Russia’s “genocide,” as he tried to convince skeptical developing nations they share a stake in Kyiv’s victory.

Other Topics of Interest

Ukraine Beyond Trump

While some observers are writing off Ukraine as a lost cause after Trump takes office, those who know Ukrainians understand that it would be foolish to underestimate them.

“For the first time in modern history, we have the chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked,” Zelensky said in a speech met with applause led by Western nations, but many empty seats elsewhere.

“This is a real chance for every nation – to ensure that aggression against your state, if it happens, God forbid, will end not because your land will be divided,” he said, but with sovereignty upheld.

Zelensky also warned that Russia’s other neighbors were at risk.

“Russia has almost swallowed Belarus. It is obviously threatening Kazakhstan and the Baltic states,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed earlier in the day from US president Biden who warned the world against trying to "appease" Russia's "naked aggression."

The First Lady

Zelensky is accompanied on his trip to New York by his wife, Olena Zelenska, who on Tuesday urged world leaders to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.

So far, only 386 have been brought back.

In Russia “they were told that their parents don’t need them, that their country doesn’t need them, that nobody is waiting for them,” Zelenska said.

“The abducted children were told that they are no longer Ukrainian children, that they are Russian children.”

Russia’s allies

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday accused the United States of worsening the Ukraine war but insisted that Tehran – which has provided drones to Russia – would back a peace settlement.

“The United States of America has fanned the flames of violence in Ukraine in order to weaken the European countries. This is a long-term plan, unfortunately,” he told the UN General Assembly.

Iran has tense relations with the US, which has imposed new sanctions on the theocratic state for selling the killer drones to Moscow.

But Raisi insisted on the neutrality of Iran, which has largely abstained on resolutions regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We support any initiative for a cessation of hostilities and the war,” Raisi said.

Regional turmoil

Russia’s war in Ukraine wasn’t the only one that was being discussed – the UN called Wednesday for an end to fighting in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, after the launch of a military operation against separatist forces.

Baku has warned it will “continue until the end” in the Armenian-majority region, over which it has fought two wars with neighboring Armenia, AFP reports.

The latest flare-up comes as Russia, the traditional power broker in the region, is bogged down in a conflict in Ukraine, which has left it isolated by the West.

“We urge the conflicting parties to immediately stop the bloodshed, stop hostilities and eliminate civilian casualties,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.