NEW YORK / OSLO (VG) With Ukraine in the audience, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday at a UN Security Council meeting that Russian war crimes allegations in Ukraine are Western propaganda. He then left the room before the meeting ended.
Updated less than 20 minutes ago
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The Security Council met on Thursday evening to discuss the war in Ukraine.
– I will maintain a safe social distance, said Dmytro Kuleba.
The question from the media just outside the UN Security Council chamber was how he came to relate to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, on the inside.
Kuleba was invited to give a speech, with Russia at the hearing, among others.
– The West is part of the conflict
When the meeting began, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin was temporarily sitting in Russia’s seat on the council, but when it was Russia’s turn to speak, Lavrov was in his seat. He entered the room about an hour after the meeting had started.
He used his speaking time to claim, among other things, that Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine have been denied their rights for years. Among other things, you said they were refused to use their language through “scandalous language laws”.
At the same time, laws were introduced that supported the theories of the Nazis, said the Russian foreign minister, and repeated Russia’s claims that Ukraine is ruled by neo-Nazis.
The Russian Foreign Minister was also clear on what Russia thinks about the West’s support for Ukraine, including through the supply of weapons:
– This policy implies a direct involvement of the West and makes it a party to the conflict.
He left the meeting
Furthermore, he claimed that the Russian war crimes allegations are not true.
– They are part of the propaganda, said Lavrov, who left the court shortly after giving his speech.
– I’m not surprised. I don’t think Mr Lavrov wants to hear the collective condemnation of this council, said British Foreign Minister James Cleverly, who spoke shortly after Lavrov.
He cleverly called most of what his Russian colleague told lies.
Støre: – He knows what he’s doing
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was himself in the hall and where he sat opposite Lavrov in the hall. He believes that Lavrov’s behavior speaks volumes about the situation in Russia.
– I think it shows that Russia is the only one to justify this war.
– He behaves like a child?
– No, this is the behavior of one of the most experienced diplomats in the world. He knows what he is doing. But he doesn’t give the impression of great security to choose his time that way, Støre answers VG’s question.
The Prime Minister lived it as Lavrov “mechanically reading a long series of accusations”, and cites, among other things, the repetition of the Nazis in Ukraine.
– Then I noticed that he barely mentioned the referendum proposal and the possible annexations of territories. And he did not mention anything about the mobilization of soldiers announced by Putin. I thought it was noteworthy.
Kuleba with a message to Russia
When Dmytro Kuleba was given the floor, he was concerned that Russia might know one thing:
– They can never kill us all.
He reasons that most Russians don’t really want this war, while most Ukrainians want to defend their country. Kuleba points out that thousands of Ukrainians returned home when Russia launched its invasion, while thousands of Russians fled their homeland after Putin announced a new mobilization of soldiers this week.
“Today all Ukrainians are ready to defend Ukraine,” said Kuleba, who also called on the international community to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine.
“Catalog of cruelty”
Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened the meeting and spoke to the Security Council about the meticulous work of recovering bodies from mass graves and the documentation of war crimes.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for an investigation into human rights crimes during the war.
UN reports show a catalog of atrocities: executions without trial, sexual violence, torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment of civilians and prisoners of war, Guterres said.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre himself gave Norway’s speech today.
– If we have the opportunity, we will exchange some views, and then I do not think it will be a surprise to him what I am about to say, Støre told VG before the Security Council sat down.
Støre calls the claims lies
In his speech shortly thereafter, he referred to Putin’s speech on Wednesday and the president’s assertion of a military threat to Russia from the West.
– I speak for Norway, a European state, a NATO member and a neighbor of Russia. Let me say it as clearly as possible: these statements are simply not true.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken states in his post that the world cannot stand by and watch Vladimir Putin “tear apart” the international order and asks, among other things, all members of the Security Council to send a clear message to Putin that threats to the use of nuclear weapons must stop immediately.
At the same time, he stresses that he believes unity among other UN members is surprisingly positive when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
Nations that have maintained a close relationship with Russia are also asking serious questions about Putin’s invasion, says Blinken.
Dramatic development
The background of the meeting is a dramatic development of the war in Ukraine in recent weeks – and some intense last days.
Ukrainian forces rushed forward in early September and liberated large areas to the east. There, after the Russians fled, they found out mass graves with over 400 bodies dumped.
Russia attempted to respond to the military collapse announce referendums in the occupied territories – so that attacks on the territory declared as Russia with weapons from NATO countries can be resolved with an escalation.
And yesterday Putin gave a speech in which he both mentioned nuclear weapons and announced the mobilization of 300,000 Russians to war.
Protests erupted and a thousand people were arrested.
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