TANZANIA – Russia’s foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West “at gunpoint” and impeding international cooperation, a claim the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denounced as “hypocrisy” by a country that invaded neighboring Ukraine.
The finger-pointing came at Russia ’s showcase event during its presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, and it chose the topic — “Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic and sustainable world order.” Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside.
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Just before the meeting, Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, whose ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was among the several dozen U.N. envoys surrounding him.
The joint statement said the international community must not be distracted from Russia’s “flagrant violations” of Ukraine's territorial integrity and from Moscow “cynically attempting to present itself as the guardian of the multilateral order.”
The countries condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, North Korea’s military support to Moscow in violation of U.N. sanctions, and violations by Iran when U.N. sanctions were in effect.
“The Russian Federation’s continued illegal actions and blatant hypocrisy undermine multilateral and international cooperation” and “exacerbate regional tensions, and endanger international peace and security,” the 50 countries said.
Unusually, no U.N. official or outside expert briefed the Security Council.
Instead, Lavrov started the meeting criticizing the United States for declaring “its own exceptionalism.”
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others," Lavrov said, quoting George Orwell’s famed novel “Animal Farm.”
He then went on to attack NATO’s “reckless expansion” in Europe despite repeated warnings from Moscow and said the “special military operation” in Ukraine was launched to eliminate threats to Russia’s security.
Lavrov accused Washington of doing everything possible “to blow up” the global order “to contain Russia, China and other countries whose independent policies are seen as a challenge to its hegemony.”
“Americans are holding the entire West at gunpoint and expanding their trade and economic war with those they see as undesirable,” he said.
Lavrov called for peace in Ukraine on terms set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Kyiv has rejected, as well as recognition of a multipolar world, eliminating injustices in the global economy, and reforming the U.N., international financial institutions and other global organizations.
Responding to Lavrov's 20-minute speech, Thomas-Greenfield said: “I thought I was in the wrong room because this seemed to be a session whining about the United States and the West, and I hardly heard the world 'multilateralism’ mentioned.”
“As we speak, Russia continues to erode confidence in our institutions, while willfully and flagrantly violating the core tenets of the United Nations Charter: territorial integrity, respect for human rights, international cooperation,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield dismissed Lavrov’s “mealy-mouthed calls for cooperation” and urged action and change to make the United Nations and the broader international system better reflect the world today and the priorities of all countries including developing nations.
“Not, as my Russian counterpart might argue, to keep other nations down, but rather to help them build up,” she said, “to ensure that everyone plays by the rules, and that the rules are fair to everyone, including the developing nations that have, for far too long, been used and abused by Russia.”
Speaking more broadly, Britain’s U.N. Ambassador, Barbara Woodward, told the Security Council that the challenges the world faces “are no less stark” than those at the end of World War II when the United Nations was founded.
More countries are engaged in conflict than at any time since World War II, she said, and the world is facing a climate crisis and scientific and technological breakthroughs that all countries need to address.
Speaking to Russia's Lavrov, Woodward said, “While you tell us how you believe the world order can become more just, democratic and sustainable, your military is systematically bombing civilians in Ukraine in an unprovoked war of aggression, and in flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter.”
“What is just about trying to annex another country’s land? What is democratic about trying to subjugate another country’s people? What is sustainable about waging a war that has killed or injured over 500,000 of your own people?” she asked.
The invasion of Ukraine “is a stark reminder of what kind of world order Russia really wants,” Woodward said, “a world where might is right and powerful countries can bully and invade others with impunity.”