The diplomatic choreography prevented a face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, during the United Nations Security Council meeting. When the first gave his speech, in which he criticized the veto power that Moscow has in this body and asked for its removal, the second was outside the room. And when Lavrov came in to defend the legitimacy of this instrument under the UN Charter, Zelensky had already left.
The shock between them – it could have been the first time that the Ukrainian leader had sat at the same table with a senior Russian representative since the invasion – was captured in the words. “The veto in the hands of the aggressor brought the United Nations to an impasse,” Zelensky defended. “It is impossible to stop the war because all efforts are refused by the aggressor and those who excuse the aggressor,” he added, after defending his 10-point plan to end the conflict.
But it came under fire precisely because of the veto power that Russia enjoys as a permanent member of the Security Council – together with the US, China, France and the United Kingdom. And what Kiev says was achieved “illegally through behind-the-scenes manipulations after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” and ended up in the hands of “liars whose job is to cover up aggression and genocide.”
This veto has allowed Moscow to block any resolution on the war, even if the General Assembly, which unites 193 countries, votes consecutively to condemn the invasion and ask Russia to withdraw its troops. Russia is acting “at the expense of all other member states,” said the Ukrainian leader, who also defended reforms within the United Nations. “The use of the veto is what requires reform and this could be a crucial reform,” he argued.
In his intervention, the head of Russian diplomacy defended this right. “The use of the veto is an absolutely legitimate instrument provided for in the Charter of the United Nations, with the aim of preventing decisions that could lead to the disintegration of organizations,” claimed Lavrov, who on the other side of the table had not Zelensky, but the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslutsya, and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
The Russian Foreign Minister took the opportunity to accuse the West of fueling conflict in Ukraine and inciting war with Russia. “The principle of non-interference in internal affairs has been violated countless times,” he said, arguing that any anti-Russian government in Kiev is a US “puppet” and suggesting that the US should “order” Zelensky to to negotiate with Moscow. .
In his speech, Blinken accused Moscow “almost daily” of “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine. He also said it is “difficult to find a country that despises the principles of the United Nations more” than Russia, accusing Moscow of violating the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity with the invasion of Ukraine.
There was no clash between Zelensky and Lavrov, but there was between Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country holds the interim chairmanship of the Security Council.. Moscow criticized the fact that Zelensky was allowed to speak first at the meeting, saying it undermined the body’s authority. Rama responded that there was “a solution” to prevent the Ukrainian leader from speaking first: “You end the war and President Zelensky does not speak.”
Source: DN
