President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has called on the United Nations Security Council to act for peace or dissolve itself following the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha allegedly by Russian troops.

Mr Zelensky, in an address to the Security Council on Tuesday in New York, described in stark detail what he said was the deliberate slaughter of civilians in Bucha by Russian forces.

He challenged the council to either remove Russia as a source of war so it can no longer block decisions made about its own aggression or simply “dissolve yourselves altogether, if there is nothing to do other than engage in conversation.”

He added, “Are you ready to close the United Nations? Do you think that the time for international law is gone? Ukraine needs peace. Europe needs peace. The world needs peace.”

According to him, the member states are dealing with a country that is turning the veto of the council into the right to die.

“If it continues, countries will rely not on international law or global institutions to ensure security, but rather, on the power of their own arms,’’ he warned.

Noting that he had just returned from Bucha, the newly liberated suburb of Kyiv that has become notorious since images of mass civilian deaths there emerged at the weekend.

The Ukrainian president recounted how Russian forces had sought and purposely killed anyone who served Ukraine.

He said innocent Ukrainians were shot in the head after being tortured, thrown into wells, crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars, their limbs cut off, and tongues pulled out because the aggressors “did not hear what they wanted to hear.”

He accused Russia of wanting to “turn Ukrainians into silent slaves” and openly stealing everything, “starting with food and ending with gold earrings that are pulled out and covered with blood.”

Mr Zelensky added, “Where is the security that the Security Council must guarantee?” 

Recalling that holocaust organiser Adolf Eichmann did not go unpunished, the Ukrainian president said it was time for reform. 

“The power of peace must become dominant,” he insisted.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, while briefing the council, expressed deep regret over divisions that have prevented the council from acting not only on Ukraine but also on other threats to peace around the world.

He urged the organisation’s flagship security body to do “everything in its power” to end the war.

(NAN)