UN member states will vote on Friday to make an exception to allow Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address next week’s General Assembly via video, according to diplomatic sources.

World leaders were allowed to speak via video in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, but this year the event is back in person.

Only heads of government or heads of state may speak.

Countries like China and Russia that have not sent a leader can have another senior official speak on their behalf, but only after the leaders have spoken.

A draft text seen by AFP, which will be presented to the General Assembly on Friday, notes that some leaders are unable to attend for reasons beyond their control “due to ongoing foreign invasion, aggression and military hostilities”.

As a result, she suggests that “Ukraine may provide a pre-recorded statement from its head of state.”

According to the latest available schedule, Ukraine’s address is scheduled for Wednesday, September 21, afternoon.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Ukrainian President has made several video addresses to members of the Security Council.

Most recently in August, when Russia unsuccessfully resisted the video address.