Russia’s foreign minister on July 16 accused the United States of holding the entire West "at gunpoint" and obstructing international cooperation, a claim the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denounced as "hypocrisy" from a country that invaded Ukraine.
The exchange took place during Russia’s showcase event as the current president of the U.N. Security Council, focusing on "Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic, and sustainable world order." Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside over the meeting.
Prior to the meeting, Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, with several dozen U.N. envoys surrounding him. The joint statement asserted that the international community must not be distracted from Russia’s "flagrant violations" of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and from Moscow’s "cynical attempt to present itself as the guardian of the multilateral order."
"The Russian Federation’s continued illegal actions and blatant hypocrisy undermine multilateral and international cooperation, exacerbate regional tensions, and endanger international peace and security," read the statement.
In an unusual move, no U.N. official or outside expert briefed the Security Council.
Instead, Sergey Lavrov opened the meeting by criticizing the U.S. for declaring "its own exceptionalism." Quoting George Orwell’s famous novel "Animal Farm," Lavrov said: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
In response to Lavrov’s 20-minute speech, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted: "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 word ‘multilateralism’ mentioned."
She added, "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."
Dinara Khalilova
