New York: Liberia has reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, urging an immediate ceasefire leading to a comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with the UN Charter and international law.
Speaking Monday, November 9, 2026, during a United Nations Security Council briefing on the maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Lewis G. Brown II, condemned attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
Ambassador Brown emphasized the critical need to safeguard hospitals, schools, and essential public utilities indispensable to civilian survival. He further stressed that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must be granted full, unhindered access to prisoners of war in line with the Geneva Conventions, and that humanitarian personnel must be allowed to safely deliver rapid, unimpeded aid to populations in need.
Highlighting ongoing diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, Liberia welcomed the facilitation by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump alongside the cooperation between Russian and Ukrainian representatives that enabled recent humanitarian operations, acknowledging her role in helping reunite children with their families.
“The task now is to make such cooperation sustained and repeatable,” Ambassador Brown stated. “Further arrangements should enable safe and voluntary evacuations, assistance for civilians who remain, expanded humanitarian access on both sides of the front line, and additional exchanges of prisoners of war and releases of unlawfully detained civilians.”
He encouraged both warring parties and external facilitators to leverage existing diplomatic channels to secure further humanitarian agreements and pursue sustained negotiations toward ending the conflict.
Ambassador Brown concluded by reminding the Council that civilians affected by the war in both Ukraine and the Russian Federation deserve a stable future free from ongoing destruction, loss, and uncertainty.