Russia’s Lavrov hosts UN meeting on ‘international peace,’ gets slammed by Western diplomats

(CNN) Western diplomats accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of unprovoked attacks on Ukraine during a face-to-face session hosted by Moscow’s top diplomat at the UN Security Council on Monday.

Since Russia is now the rotating chairman of the Security Council, Lavrov was in charge of a meeting entitled “Maintaining International Peace and Security.” The last time Russia presided over the Security Council was in February 2022, when it launched an invasion of Ukraine.

The US, UK and Swiss ambassadors to the UN all addressed the meeting and condemned the Russian aggression. Three women, Linda Thomas Greenfield from the United States, Barbara Woodward from the United Kingdom, and Pascal Bellisville from Switzerland, expressed strong and direct criticism of Russia and Lavrov, sometimes even seeing Russia’s top diplomats in person. was

“Today, our hypocritical convener, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine, striking to the heart of the UN Charter. “Wars of conquest are never acceptable,” said Thomas-Greenfield.

“As we sit here, the invasion continues. As we sit here, the Russian military continues to kill and wound civilians. Russian forces are destroying critical infrastructure in Ukraine while we are sitting here, we are looking at the next Bucha, the next Mariupol, the next Kherson, the next war crimes, the next atrocities. act,” she added.

Opening the session, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also condemned Russia’s actions.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the UN Charter and international law, has caused tremendous suffering and devastation to the country and its people, and is contributing to the global economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. sat down and said… next to Lavrov.

Russian diplomats have been largely cut off from various international conferences since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. However, the leadership of the UN’s most powerful body, the Security Council, rotates alphabetically among the 15 member states. Her five nations are permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The remaining 10 members are elected by the UN General Assembly for a two-year term.

Russia took office on April 1 in what several diplomats described as an “April Fool’s joke”.

Monday’s meeting was attended by Elizabeth Whelan, whose brother Paul Whelan has been detained in Russia for more than four years. The U.S. government last year failed to secure Whelan’s release when he repatriated two other Americans whom the U.S. claims were wrongfully detained in Russia — Trevor Reed in April and December’s. Brittney Griner.

European Union countries released a joint statement ahead of the conference, condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine and criticizing Lavrov’s appearance at the conference.

“Russia is trying to present itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism. Nothing is far from the truth. It’s ironic,” said Olaf Skoog, the European Union’s representative to the UN. “We all know that while Russia is destroying, we are building. While they are encroaching, we are defending.”

In his opening remarks, Lavrov launched a barrage of baseless accusations against Ukraine and its Western allies, blaming them for the conflict.

“Like the Cold War, we have reached a dangerous or even more dangerous threshold,” Lavrov said, urging “the United States and its allies” to “abandon diplomacy and demand clarification of relations on the battlefield.” There is,” he complained.

Mr Lavrov has repeatedly described the Ukrainian government as a “traitor” and a “Nazi Kiev regime” – baseless allegations that Russia has repeatedly made to justify its unlawful invasion of the country. be. Lavrov also criticized Western countries for not recognizing Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula as Russian territory despite “a referendum being held.”

Russia forcibly annexed Crimea after holding a fake referendum in 2014. Ukraine and its Western allies consider the area to be Ukrainian territory. The United Nations overwhelmingly rejected the referendum as illegal and the annexation as illegal.