Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the final plenary session of the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue and discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

During the question and answer session that followed, he was asked about the parallels between the invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Question

A member of the Cambodian delegation referenced previous statements by Zelensky, saying that Israel's right to defence was indisputable, and that right to self-defence was codified under the United Nations charter.

Zelensky and Western allies had also repeatedly referred to the rule of law, said the Cambodian delegate.

She was likely referring to Ukraine's accusations that Russia had breached international law in its conduct of the war in Ukraine.

Zelensky was then asked whether he thought there should be a collective call from Ukraine and its allies to the Israeli government to adhere to international humanitarian law.

In particular, the principle of proportionality, and the distinguishing between combatants and civilians, as well as the prohibiting the infliction of unnecessary suffering on the civilian Palestinian population.

And answer

Zelensky said that in order to counter any narratives and disinformation, it was necessary to look into each fact separately, and to look into the details.

Zelensky said that Ukraine was, first and foremost, “a just country” that respected international law and the United Nations charter.

He said that the conflict should not be seen as a single issue.

In the early days of the conflict, Ukraine had said Israel had the right to defend itself in the context of Hamas's terror attacks against Israeli civilians, and that was a specific case.

After that, when Israel launched a military offensive into Gaza, and there was a humanitarian crisis, Ukraine had said that it was ready to lend humanitarian help to Gaza and that there is a need to respect international laws.

Finally Zelensky said that Ukraine recognised two states, Israel and Palestine. Ukraine recognised Palestine while it was still part of the former Soviet bloc in 1988.

He added that Ukraine was willing to do everything to help Israel stop the conflict, so that civilians did not suffer.

He urged that the two periods, the Hamas attack and the current invasion of Gaza should not be mixed into a single one.

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Top image via The International Institute for Strategic Studies/YouTube