Ukraine and 50 other countries criticized yesterday "hypocrisy" of Russia, whose foreign minister is chairing a meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to multilateralism, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
Russia, which is rotating chairman of the Security Council this month, yesterday organized the debate on "multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable order".
"In the context of the brutal war against Ukraine, the topic of the debate is a new proof of Russia's hypocrisy," Ukrainian Ambassador Serhiy Kislitsa told journalists. He read a declaration on behalf of 50 countries, including the United States, France and the United Kingdom. "Today's meeting should not distract the attention of the international community from Russia's violation of the UN Charter and its abuse of the Security Council in a cynical attempt to present itself as the guardian of the multilateral order," he added. .
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, rejected "useless polemics" and attacked the US directly. "To deter Russia, China and other countries whose independent policies are perceived as a threat to its hegemony, the West is aggressively dismantling the global system originally built on its models," Lavrov said. In his words, Washington demands from its allies "uncomplaining obedience even to the detriment of their national interests", reported Reuters.
In response to Lavrov's 20-minute speech, US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: "I thought I was in the wrong room because it seemed like whining about the US and the West, and I hardly heard it mentioned the word "multilateralism". "As we speak, Russia continues to undermine trust in our institutions by deliberately and grossly violating the basic principles of the UN Charter: territorial integrity, human rights, international cooperation," she said.