MINISTER FOR FOREIGN Affairs, Simon Coveney, will address the UN Security Council following his visit to war-torn Ukraine. 

Coveney had visited Kyiv and scene of a massacre of civilians at Bucha last week – making him the first Foreign Minister from a state on the Security Council to visit Kyiv since the start of the war.

The Minister met Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov in the country’s capital, and is to travel to areas directly affected by the Russian invasion.

He is also the first foreign minister to visit the besieged suburb of Bucha and to observe first-hand the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the mass graves that have been uncovered. 

“In my meetings with Minister Kuleba and Minister Reznikov in Kyiv, I gave Ireland’s commitment to continue to use our voice at the highest level in the EU and at the UN Security Council to call for an immediate halt to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and for a genuine commitment to a negotiated solution. I am using the earliest opportunity at the Security Council to do this.

“The Ukrainian people need and deserve full accountability for the atrocities that continue to be uncovered daily. I will be using Ireland’s voice at the Security Council to emphasise this. I will also be raising our grave concerns that we are facing into renewed Russian attacks in the east of Ukraine, with hundreds of thousands of lives at stake.

“The humanitarian toll on civilians of this war is unconscionable. Two thirds of Ukraine’s children are now displaced from their homes.

“This madness can stop today if Russia agrees to an immediate ceasefire, a withdrawal to pre 24th February positions and a commitment to a dialogue. I commend Turkey’s efforts in hosting talks between the parties in Istanbul and urge all UN Member States to support diplomatic efforts,” Coveney said. 

Minister Coveney will take Ireland’s seat at the Security Council to deliver his remarks this afternoon.