First, Russia gave the platform to the United Nations Commissioner for the Rights of the Child, Maria Lvova-Belova, who, along with President Vladimir Putin, is accused of war crimes, obliging the ambassadors of the United States States and some other countries to leave the room.
Moscow then lashed out at the West, saying that by arming Ukraine it violated international law, prompting a backlash against Ukraine’s right to self-defense.
The current Russian presidency of the Security Council has already become the most contentious in memory of a generation, and after all, only half of its term has passed.
More noise is expected later this month when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs the presidency’s flagship event, an open meeting of the Security Council devoted to upholding the principles of the UN Charter.
Many accuse Russia of having itself violated the UN Charter and trampled on its fundamental principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity by invading Ukraine.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell called Russia’s presidency an April joke.
The American diplomat promised to “seize every opportunity to oppose the use of the siege (of the chair) to spread disinformation in order to mobilize support for her efforts”.
At the start of the presidency, Russia held a briefing of Lvova-Belova, who, along with Putin, wants to be arrested by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
US political adviser Ngoyi Ngoyi called it outrageous that Russia’s children’s rights commissioner had the opportunity to speak out. According to him, Ukrainian children aged from 4 months to 17 years old were transferred to 40 institutions in Russia and/or occupied regions of Ukraine. He said at least two such centers coordinate Russian adoptions, which Russia denies.
“If Russia does not try to hide the systematic program of forcing Ukrainian children into Russian citizenship, then it should provide full access to humanitarian organizations,” Ngoyi said.
France’s deputy human rights adviser, Thibault Samson, called the briefing “a cynical new exercise in disinformation”, accusing Lvova-Belova of spreading “propaganda” and “a false description of the situation”.
“A lie repeated until hoarseness remains a lie,” Samson said.
The second important event organized by Russia concerned the export of arms and military equipment.
Once again, Western ambassadors boycotted the meeting, leaving seats in the Security Council chamber occupied by lower-ranking lawmakers and diplomats.
France’s deputy political coordinator Alexandre Olmedo told the council that there is documented evidence that Russia is using combat drones from Iran and buying missiles and ammunition from North Korea.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said Russia began its presidency “trying to justify the kidnapping of Ukrainian children” and then “tried to portray itself as a responsible actor in the arms control trying to obscure the reality that it had waged an unwarranted armed campaign”. incursion.” into the territory of a neighboring country.
“The most effective and obvious way to achieve peace and reduce the risk of illegal arms diversions would be for Russia to end the war it has started and withdraw its forces from all sovereign territory of Ukraine,” Wood said. “We again call on Russia to do it and to do it now.”
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