UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) – It was to be Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy’s first in- particular person look at a U.N. Security Council assembly on Moscow’s invasion of his nation when Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to him taking the flooring at the begin of the assembly.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, serving as president of the tense session, responded with a gibe at Moscow, which has lengthy mentioned the invasion does not quantity to a conflict however was a mere “special military operation”.
“I want to assure our Russian colleagues and everyone here that this is not a special operation by the Albanian presidency,” Rama, recognized for a piercing humorousness, mentioned to muted laughter throughout the room.
“There is a solution for this,” Rama continued, addressing Nebenzia straight: “If you agree, you stop the war and President Zelenskiy will not take the floor.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the United Nations Security Council throughout a ministerial stage assembly of the Security Council on the disaster in Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar Acquire Licensing Rights
Nebenzia did not agree. He went on to say the session was a present and criticized Rama for what he mentioned was making politically charged statements relatively than appearing as a impartial guardian of process.
After the session, Zelenskiy thanked Rama on social media, saying the Albanian, who’s each an artist and former basketball participant, “showed the world how to correctly handle Russia, its lies, and its hypocrisy.”
In in search of to justify its invasion, Moscow has mentioned Ukraine’s ambitions to combine with the West – together with NATO – pose a risk to Russia’s nationwide safety, an assertion that Kyiv and its allies deny as a baseless pretext to assault.
When given the flooring after the back-and-forth, Zelenskiy requested Russia be stripped of its veto proper as considered one of 5 everlasting members of the post-World War Two U.N. Security Council as punishment for attacking Ukraine.
Appearing in the room after Zelenskiy left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended Moscow’s use of the veto as authentic, accusing Kyiv and the West of selectively following ideas of the 1945 U.N. Charter solely when it fits them.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Howard Goller
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