United Nations Concerned About “New Escalation” in the War in Ukraine

A senior United Nations official expressed concern on Wednesday about a “new escalation” in the war in Ukraine, calling on the parties involved to refrain from actions and rhetoric that could worsen the ongoing conflict, which has been raging for nearly three years, according to Agence France-Presse.

Miroslav Jenka, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, said before the United Nations Security Council, “In recent days, we have seen troubling signs of further escalation in this explosive war.”

Jenka specifically referred to Russia’s use of a new medium-range ballistic missile (with a range of up to 5500 kilometers) that reached the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Russia justified the missile use as a “response” to recent Ukrainian attacks on its territory with American and British missiles. On Tuesday, Russia vowed a new “response” to two additional Ukrainian strikes with American ATACMS missiles.

Jenka added: “The United Nations has no additional details about these events, including the type of weapons used. However, the use of ballistic missiles and issuing threats represents a dangerous development towards escalating the war.”

He continued: “We call on all parties to take immediate steps to de-escalate and refrain from any actions or rhetoric that would intensify this war and put regional and international peace and security at grave risk,” reiterating that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a blatant violation of international law.