NEW YORK — US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke with media at UN headquarters to share her concerns about Russian and Chinese influence around the world.
The US diplomat, who is also a member of US President Joe Biden’s cabinet, said that during Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council in April, the US will engage with her on a number of issues, but for now, a separate meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will be at the UN later this month, is not scheduled.
Asked about the Kremlin’s ties to Venezuela and the Ortega and Murillo regimes in Nicaragua, Thomas-Greenfield said, “It’s very concerning.”
“As you can see from the vote at (the General Assembly), these are the countries that continue to support Russia,” she added. – But they are on the wrong side of history, and they have to understand that they are on the wrong side of history, because the world is on Ukraine’s side, the world is against Russia, and they have need to see the “writing on the wall” indicating that supporting Russia is a losing position.
Commenting on Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield said: “Russia shouldn’t be on the Security Council at all, but it’s a permanent member of the council and we can’t change that. “.
“During this month, we intend to interact on important issues on the agenda of the Security Council,” she added. – It’s not just Ukraine. We expect Russia to look for opportunities to spread its disinformation, especially when its Foreign Minister Lavrov is here.
“There are no plans to contact him at this time,” the US diplomat said. “But, of course, we will do everything we can to free unjustly detained American citizens. The secretary of state spoke with Foreign Minister Lavrov over the weekend and demanded the release of the Wall Street Journal journalist and other Americans illegally detained by the Russian government.
