Envoys slam Russia at UN meeting Lavrov chaired

ALBAWABA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presided over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where he was chastised by western diplomats for Moscow's unprovoked war on Ukraine.

Lavrov was in charge of Monday's meeting, titled "Maintenance of international peace and security" because Russia currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council since April 1, CNN reported. It said the last time Russia presided over the Security Council was February 2022, when it launched its invasion of Ukraine.

U.N. ambassadors for the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland all used their speeches at the meeting to condemn Russia’s invasion, CNN said. It said the U.S.’s Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Britain’s Barbara Woodward and Switzerland’s Pascale Baeriswyl all "voiced strong, direct criticism of Russia and Lavrov, at times looking directly at the top Russian diplomat."

"Our hypocritical convener today, Russia, invaded its neighbor, Ukraine, and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter," Thomas-Greenfield said, according to CNN "This illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most shared principles – that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable."

"As we sit here, that aggression continues. As we sit here, Russian forces continue to kill and injure civilians. As we sit here, Russian forces are destroying Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. As we sit here we brace ourselves for the next Bucha, the next Mariupol, the next Kherson, the next war crime, the next atrocity,” she added, CNN said.

Opening the session, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Russia’s actions. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, sitting right next to Lavrov.