Russia isolated at the UN, accused of creating “peril” in Ukraine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the world was facing “a moment of peril” with the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine, country which insistently demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops.

The conflict triggered by Russia, “the only aggressor”, could result in “a new refugee crisis” with “up to 5 million additional people displaced”, warned the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas- Greenfield.

The General Assembly meeting was an annual session on the “temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories”, held since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. It took a dramatic turn this year with the latest developments, a record of more than 80 countries out of the 193 members of the UN having chosen to speak.

A very large majority of them, representing all the continents, criticized Russia in more or less virulent terms. Several like Liberia called on “Russia not to invade Ukraine”. Others, like Canada, brandished the UN Charter, going so far as to read articles aimed at averting wars.

After 69 interventions, the session was interrupted in the evening and will resume on Monday, according to a UN source.

Seen as close to Moscow, Beijing has hinted at very little support. “The purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld jointly,” Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said.

“Russia’s decision to recognize the so-called ‘independence’ of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – and the sequel – are violations of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and are incompatible with the principles of Charter of the United Nations”, denounced the head of the UN at the opening of the meeting.

In the aftermath, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed that Ukraine was not a threat to Russia.

“Ukraine never planned and does not plan any military operations in Donbass,” he said. “The start of a full-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it,” warned Dmytro Kuleba.

“Russia must find the path of diplomacy”, that it “withdraw its troops, stop destabilizing the region”, he claimed. “We want peace!” Dmytro Kuleba said at the end of his long speech, to loud applause.

– “Time of empires” –

“We are in 2022” and “we will not return to an era of empires and colonies – or to the USSR”, argued Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “We have moved forward and must ensure, as Kenya said in the Security Council on Monday, that ‘the embers of dead empires do not ignite new forms of oppression and violence’.”

“Because Ukraine is one of the world’s largest suppliers of wheat, particularly to the developing world, Russia’s actions could cause food prices to soar and lead to even more desperate hunger in places like Libya, Yemen and Lebanon,” the US diplomat also said.

Departure of the UN General Assembly in New York of the Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia after an intervention during a meeting devoted to Ukraine on February 23, 2022 (AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Previously, his Russian counterpart at the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, assured that the situation today was the result of the “2014 coup”, which led to a change of power in Ukraine more favorable to the West than in Moscow.

Since then, Kiev has been carrying out a “repression” against the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine, denounced the Russian diplomat, even evoking – a first at the UN – the term “genocide” recently used by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to him, Kiev’s lack of action in favor of the east of the country has prompted “tens of thousands of people” to flee to Russia.

In a rare criticism of the Secretary General, Vassily Nebenzia, whose country, by chance, chaired the UN Security Council in February, judged that his latest statements against Moscow were not inconsistent with its mandate.

On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres firmly rejected the Russian assertion that a “genocide” would be committed in the Donbass, and multiplied the accusations that the Kremlin violates the Charter of the United Nations.

Moscow is with Washington, Paris, London and Beijing one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. As such, he has a right of veto which allows him to annihilate any attempt in this instance to condemn Russia.

At the request of Ukraine, a new emergency meeting of the Security Council was scheduled for Wednesday evening, the second in three days. The United States and Albania have begun circulating a draft resolution condemning Russia, which should be put to a vote very soon.