Ukraine and dozens of other nations accused Russia of hypocrisy on Tuesday as it presided over a United Nations meeting on how countries can work together to make the world a more just place.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and routinely attacks civilian targets as it wages war on its pro-Western neighbor, holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in July.
On Tuesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led a debate titled “Multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order.”
“Against the background of its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, the topic of debate is another clear demonstration of Russia’s hypocrisy,” Ukraine’s UN ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said as he read a joint statement from around 50 countries including the United States, France and Britain.
“Today’s meeting must not distract the international community from Russia’s flagrant violations of the UN Charter and its abuse of the UN Security Council, while cynically attempting to present itself as the guardian of the multilateral order,” the statement added.
Lavrov warned against engaging in “pointless polemics” and attacked the United States.
“Let us be frank, not all states represented in this room recognize the key principle of the UN Charter and the sovereign equality of all states,” Lavrov said.
“The United States has long through the words of its presidents declared its own exceptionalism,” he added.
