Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday invoked Afghanistan in his address to the UN General Assembly, saying the Taliban had “plunged the entire country into darkness.”

Speaking on the second day of the annual gathering, Zelensky linked Afghanistan’s plight to broader global conflicts, warning that peace cannot be achieved without weapons. He pointed to Gaza as an example of a crisis with “no way out” and said thousands of children were being killed in wars in Ukraine and beyond.

Zelensky also renewed his call for an end to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine and said Kyiv is continuing to invest in its defence industries to withstand Moscow’s offensive.