Criticism of Russia in the UN Security Council


  • The meeting, behind closed doors, will take place at 3 in the morning (Spanish time) and three of the conveners are the USA, France and the United Kingdom

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on Monday night to address the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine following Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the two separatist zones. In the month in which Russia holds the rotating presidency of the body, the meeting, requested by Ukraine and by several of the Council’s member countries, has been dominated by the harsh criticism of Moscow. After 90 minutes of interventions, it has been closed without more actions than the harsh dialectical attacks, to which the Russian ambassador has launched a counterattack.

It was Rosemary DiCarlo, the American who is undersecretary general for political affairs and peacebuilding, who opened the session by echoing the denunciation of the Russian action launched hours earlier by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. “The next few hours and the next few days will be critical & rdquor ;, said DiCarlo, who has indicated that “the risk of conflict is real & rdquor ;. Both the United States ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and the United Kingdom ambassador, Barbara Woodward, have announced that their countries will present this Tuesday new sanctions to, as the American has said, “make Russia responsible & rdquor; of what she has called a “clear violation of International Law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine & rdquor ;. And his have been two of the most critical interventions against Putin and his actions this Monday, both the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk and the announcement of sending Russian troops to the two areas for what the Kremlin has assured will be “maintenance of peace & rdquor ;. “It is nonsense. We know what they are & rdquor ;, Joe Biden’s ambassador has said regarding the troops. She has also accused Putin of wanting “to take the world back in time, to a time when empires ruled the world. It is not 1919 & rdquor ;, recalled Thomas Greenfield, who has also accused Putin of being “testing the international system, our determination and seeing how far he can push us all & rdquor ;.

While countries like Ghana, Albania or India also denounced the Russian actionss, China, one of the five permanent members and usual ally of Russia in the Council, has left a very brief intervention, of little more than a minute, and with a lukewarm message calling only all parties to “containment”. According to some observers, the haste with which the meeting was convened, and the late hours of its celebration, could have influenced the diplomatic delegation in New York not having time to obtain the guidance and approval of Beijing for a more forceful message. .

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The Russian ambassador, Vasili Nebenzia, has for his part denounced the statements of the other diplomats as a “direct verbal assault & rdquor ;. In his speech, he also defended Putin’s actions and accused the West of spending time arming Ukraine and ignoring the situation of Donbass residents. “The joint efforts of the West in Ukraine have inflated a bubble that simply had to burst,” Nebenzia denounced, defining as “main objective & rdquor; of Putin’s decision to “protect and preserve & rdquor; to the inhabitants of Donbas. “That is more important than all your threats”, he has said. “We are not going to allow a bloodbath in Donbas & rdquor ;.

The last to intervene was Sergiy Kislitsia, ambassador of Ukraine, who is not one of the 15 members of the Council, who has demanded that Russia “cancel the recognition decision & rdquor; of the two provinces and “return to the negotiating table & rdquor ;. The representative of Kiev has declared that his country is “committed to a peaceful and diplomatic path & rdquor; in which he has promised to continue but also in a firm tone he has said: “We are in our land. We are not afraid of anything or anyone. We owe nothing to anyone and we will not yield anything to anyone.” To conclude, the Ukrainian ambassador assured that “the UN is sick, it has been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin” and he has said that not succumbing “will depend on the members of the council & rdquor ;. At the moment, from the UN, and from a Council in which Russia has the right of vetono action has come out.


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