Just a year ago, Russia started the war in Ukraine. United Nations Security Council celebrated 40 meetings dedicated to conflict. With Moscow as one of the five permanent members veto (together with China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom), paralysis imposed on the organ, limited to seeing itself as a scene of it. crashes And diplomatic failures This Friday, in a session dedicated precisely to the anniversary of the war, these disagreements came to light once again. stress graph moment.
That revealing episode came early in the session. After offering an intervention, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked him to stand a minute’s silence for the victims aggression”. HE UN Secretary-General Antònio Guterres and nearly everyone present stood up, while The Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, immediately began to protest violently. and asking the current presidency holding Malta this month to speak up, then those who stood up sat again (they’re the only ones left) Seated representatives of Brazil and China).
A excited Nebenzia He assured that he stood up at that moment, but “in memory of all that happened. victims what happened in ukraine from 2014”, refers to the year when conflicts broke out in the Donbas territory, which Russia annexed without recognition by the international community, as in Crimea that year, and accused Kiev of persecuting pro-Russian citizens. “All lives are priceless,” Nebenzia said.
The Kremlin representative spoke later. Hand gesture again and again Guterres for him to get up And a few minutes later the Portuguese doubtful moments, made. It was then followed by all foreign ministers and ambassadors and diplomats present at the session.
irreconcilable differences
The diplomatic drama episode was the tenth screening of the series. irreconcilable positions in the Security Council. It also reaffirmed Russia’s bellicosity in the face of defiance from the majority of countries in the body and in the UN, as evidenced by the vote at the General Assembly the previous day, when 141 countries called on Moscow to abandon Ukraine and the annexed. regions. .
Nebenzia had already started the meeting, showing her fighting spirit. Even before the agenda was adopted, he denounced that the Maltese presidency had allowed the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba to intervene in front of the members of the organization. To underline his critique, he reminded that the vice president of the Central African Republic, Mali, Haiti and even Colombia was next in line to speak after the Council members at the sessions on their countries. Likewise, Nebenzia was critical of being invited in addition to the talk. Josep Borrell To the ministers of 12 countries, including Spain, where, as a representative of the European Union, he denounced their positions as “dictated by the EU”. They will not add value to the session,” he said.
An inventory of war disaster
This opened with a speech by Guterres, who echoed the “I” complaint.The invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.”. And the Portuguese could not help but renew their call to “give it a chance”. opportunity for peaceor to encourage cessation of attacks on the civilian population and infrastructure, or how ““Disguised threats to use nuclear weapons” are unacceptable..
His intervention is above all a long inventory of war disaster. The Portuguese mentioned in this painful list: attacks on civilians and infrastructuredozens of cases sexual violence Serious violations documented by the High Commissioner for Human Rights rights of prisoners of warhundreds of disappearances and arbitrary arrests of civilians…
Guterres also put numbers in the “hell” where Ukrainians live: almost 18 million people, who make up about 40% of the population, are in need of humanitarian aid and protection.; That same percentage lost 30% of the jobs that existed before the war started, without getting the food needed to survive…
Moreover eight million Ukrainiansremembered Guterres, they had to leave the countryand others 5.4 million people are internally displaced. Half of the children had to leave their homes. The World Health Organization confirmed More than 700 attacks on medical facilities. More than 3,000 schools were destroyed or damaged.