Ukraine’s UN Envoy urges Europe to cut aid to states undermining Ukraine at UN

He said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

“We need to work together to find ways to reverse this troubling trend,” the diplomat said, stressing the need for a “radical shift away from a lenient approach toward the Global South.”  

“It is time to show our teeth and act tough,” he added.

Melnyk said he intends to push for tangible consequences for such countries.

“This will have very concrete negative consequences for them. These may lie in the political or reputational sphere, and ideally will also entail economic consequences, for example through limiting the volume of development aid,” the diplomat said.

He noted that EU countries send billions of euros annually to states of the Global South and emphasized the need to reconsider this approach. According to him, there is currently no proportional link between how these countries vote at the UN and the amount of European financial assistance they receive, even though such aid is critically important for many of them.

Commenting on the position of Arab states, Melnyk said their collective abstention during the vote on a resolution concerning the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia was a “real cold shower” for Ukraine. He stressed that Kyiv will not tolerate a policy of “sitting on both sides of the fence.”

Speaking about countries that vote against Ukraine, Melnyk pointed out that some of them belong to the so-called “axis of evil,” including Russia, Belarus, Iran, and North Korea. At the same time, he noted that China has abstained in a number of cases.

According to the diplomat, a significant number of African countries are under the political, military, and economic influence of the Kremlin. However, the key task for Ukraine and the EU, he said, is to focus efforts on countries that abstain or do not vote simply because “it is convenient for them.”

Melnyk stressed that no change will occur without convincing European partners at the highest political level. The EU is accustomed to relying primarily on “soft power,” but this is no longer sufficient, he added.

“The European Union should not be afraid to become the bad guy,” the permanent representative said.

As Ukrinform reported, Melnyk predicts consequences for countries that fail to vote in support of Ukraine at the UN General Assembly.

Photo provided by Andrii Melnyk