Foreign Minister Ian Borg on Wednesday criticised Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
“Critical infrastructure must never be a target. Hospitals must never be a target. Schools must never be a target. And most of all, civilians, children, should never be a target,” he told a meeting of the UN Security Council.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the meeting.
In his statement Borg called on Russia to halt all hostilities and withdraw its forces from the entire territory of Ukraine.
“The international community requires a lasting solution to this conflict. A peace which respects borders, human rights and the UN Charter,” he affirmed
“This war is also having a disproportionate impact on women and children. It has created the largest displacement crisis in decades, with more than four million people internally displaced and six million living as refugees abroad,” Borg added.
The minister also reiterated Malta’s call for the provision of humanitarian access to aid workers in Ukraine, and for UN and related agencies to be allowed to carry out their duties unhindered.
“Ukraine, just like every other country, has the right to live in peace and security within its internationally recognised borders,” he said.
Kremlin says forcing Russia into peace would be 'fatal mistake'
In his address Zelensky said that Russia could only be forced into a peace settlement and vowed not to negotiate on Moscow's terms to end the conflict.
But on Wednesday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "such a position is a fatal mistake, a systemic mistake."
"Russia is in favour of peace, but with the conditions that its stability is ensured and the objectives of the special military operation are fulfilled," he added, using Moscow's official language for the Ukraine campaign.
"Without the achievement of these goals, it is impossible to coerce Russia," Peskov said.
Zelensky is in the United States this week hoping to boost international backing for Kyiv.
"We know some in the world want to talk" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky told the UN.
Clad in his trademark military fatigues, he called such views "insanity."
"Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed -- forcing Russia into peace," he added.
More than two and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale military offensive, the two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to a possible deal to end the fighting.
Kyiv launched a shock counter-offensive into Russia's western Kursk region last month, the first assault on Russian territory by a foreign army since World War II.
Moscow has demanded Kyiv abandon territory it currently controls in the east and south of Ukraine as a precondition for peace talks.