Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, right, and Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, current President of the Security Council, shake hands at the top of a meeting at the Secretariat offices at the United Nations, Monday, April 24, 2023. the headquarters. , Photo Credit: AP
The UN chief and representatives of Western countries condemned Russia’s top diplomat as he chaired a UN meeting on Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the UN charter by invading Ukraine and annexing part of its territory. Planted.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended his country’s military action and accused the US and its allies of undermining global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent World War III.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the 193 UN member states the “beating heart” and “guiding vision” of the organization, and he warned the Security Council that global cooperation is facing the greatest tensions since the UN’s creation in 1945. is in Ashes of World War II.
Tensions between the major powers are at a “historic high” and so are the risks of conflict “through audacity or miscalculation”, he said, pointing first and foremost to the war in Ukraine.
The UN Secretary-General and the ambassadors of the US, UK, France and their allies pointed to the underlying principle of the UN Charter that requires all countries to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of each nation – which Russia violated by attacking its small neighboring country on February 24, 2022and illegally connecting multiple fields.
Russia called a ministerial meeting on making “multilateralism” – when countries work together – more effective through protecting the UN Charter, calling it the high point of its month-long presidency of the Security Council. It has been the most controversial president in living memory for UN diplomats and officials in a long time, and Monday’s meeting further fueled the animosity.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia the “hypocritical organizer” of the meeting, whose “illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary” war in Ukraine “is at the heart of the UN Charter and dear to us all.”
Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, said the world had seen “what Russia’s idea of multilateralism means to the world” – the trampling of the UN Charter and a war that has brought unimaginable suffering to Ukraine and that “Russia There is also an unmitigated disaster for.”
The 27-member European Union has called “cynical” Russia’s attempt to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism, calling it “contempt” of not only the UN Charter but also UN General Assembly resolutions. asking for refund.
But Mr Lavrov defended what Moscow calls its “special military operation”, reiterating allegations that Ukraine was promoting “Nazi practices” and banning the Russian language and culture, and calling for NATO to expand into Ukraine. was planning. However, he stressed that “it’s not all about Ukraine” but what he called the West’s plans to take advantage of the Ukrainian government in hopes of undermining Russia.
“We cannot separate the Ukrainian issue from the geopolitical context,” Mr. Lavrov said. “It is about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus based on a balance of interests, or through the aggressive and untenable advancement of Washington’s hegemony.”
Mr Lavrov strongly criticized the activities of NATO members in the Western Pacific, particularly the alliance between Australia, Britain and the US, and the strengthening of US ties with Japan, South Korea and several Southeast Asian countries.
The Russian minister stressed that multilateralism is an important part of the UN Charter and accused the United States and its allies of “destroying globalization” despite its benefits.
Mr Lavrov said the West is promoting a “rules-based order” where no one has observed the rules and which blocks access to modern technologies and financial services to punish countries with which it disagrees . The West has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia. Reaction to the invasion of Ukraine.
“Let’s call a spade a spade. No one has allowed Western minorities to speak on behalf of all mankind,” he said.
US Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield told the council that Russia’s actions during the 14-month war show that the invasion of Ukraine was not an isolated incident.
“It doesn’t just concern Ukraine or Europe,” she said. “It concerns all of us. Because today it is Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation invaded by its bigger neighbor.