UN General Assembly allows Zelensky to give pre-recorded speech

The General Assembly has adopted a decision to exclusively allow the Ukrainian head of state to submit a pre-recorded speech to the General Debate next week, instead of physical presence.

Representatives of all other member states and observers will have to be physically present at the General Assembly Hall if they wish to make a statement at this year’s General Debate.

The decision on Friday said that Ukraine may submit a pre-recorded statement of its head of state, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall at the General Debate. The President of the General Assembly will circulate the pre-recorded statement as a document of the Assembly.

The decision says it will not set a precedent for future General Debates and mandated high-level meetings planned for future high-level weeks of the General Assembly, Xinhua news agency reported.

UN general Assembly/IANS

The draft resolution, tabled by Ukraine and some 50 other states, was adopted with 101 votes in favuor, 7 against and 19 abstentions.

Belarus tabled an amendment to the draft decision, which would have allowed leaders of other member states who cannot participate in person for reasons beyond their control to speak by pre-recorded statements. The amendment was rejected by the General Assembly in a vote.

United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States.IANS

Before and after the vote on the draft decision tabled by Ukraine, several member states voiced concern that such a decision would jeopardise sovereign equality among member states and politicise a procedural issue of the General Assembly.

Hours after Putin’s limo incident in Moscow, Ukraine President Zelensky’s motorcade attacked

With a few hours after the reported incident involving the motorcade of Ukraine President Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s limousine was attacked in an alleged “assassination attempt” amid Moscow’s raging war against Ukraine, raising speculation over the security in Moscow, a report said.

According to the report by General SVR, a Russian Telegram channel, Putin’s limousine was allegedly hit by a “a loud bang from the left front wheel followed by heavy smoke”, but the Russian President was unharmed, Mirror.co.uk reported.

The channel said that the President was returning to his official residence in a decoy or “backup” motorcade consisting of five armoured cars, with Putin in the third. However, the date of the incident was not revealed.

The anti-Kremlin news channel said, “On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, the second escort car drove around without stopping [despite] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

 

“The head of the President’s bodyguard (service) and several other people have been suspended and are in custody… A narrow circle of people knew about the movement of the president in this cortege, and all of them were from the presidential security service. After the incident, three of them disappeared. These were exactly the people who were in the first car of the motorcade. Their fate is currently unknown. The car on which they were traveling was found empty a few kilometres from the incident,” General SVR channel said.

Without providing details, General SVR said more information on the supposed attack was “classified”, reports Mirror.co.uk. Ironic, but a similar report is making round from Ukraine that an attempt was made on President Zelensky‘s motorcade with out details on the date or venue about it.

 

 

Zelensky involved in car accident: President’s spokesman briefs

Kiev, Sep 15 (IANS) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was involved in a car accident, his spokesman said on Thursday, adding that he was not seriously injured.

In a brief social media post, the President’s spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said that a passenger car collided with Zelensky’s vehicle and his escort in capital Kiev.

Nykyforov said that the driver of the car that collided with the motorcade was provided with “emergency aid and transferred him to an ambulance”

“The President was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found,” the spokesman said, adding that law enforcement officials will “find out all the circumstances of the accident”.


Nykyforov, however, did not provide any other details of the accident, including the day.

The development comes after Zelensky visit the recaptured city of Izyum, a key logistics hub in north-eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

During his visit, he thanked troops who took part in a swift counter-attack against Russian occupiers, and oversaw a flag-raising ceremony.