Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavarov initially stayed away from the much-anticipated UN Security Council meeting. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya attended Moscow’s representative seat in New York today.
The most powerful body of the United Nations met on the sidelines of the general debate at the UN General Assembly. In addition to a first-class lineup with several heads of state and government as well as foreign ministers, it was eagerly awaited whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would meet Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov for the first time since the beginning of the war. . But Zelensky left the meeting after his speech.
Nebenzja had already tried in vain to prevent Zelenskyy’s opening speech. There was no reason to let the Ukrainian president speak first and turn the meeting into a “one-man stand-up show,” he said. The current president of the Security Council, the Albanian Edi Rama, rejected this idea. As a result, there was an exchange of blows between Nebensja and Rama, in which Rama said, among other things: “With your permission, may we continue the meeting normally?”
Criticism of the UN
During his speech, Zelensky complained about the impotence of the United Nations. They responded to problems with “rhetoric” rather than “real solutions.” “Humanity no longer places its hopes in the UN when it comes to defending the sovereign borders of nations.” Zelensky also criticized that Russia’s veto power had led the United Nations into a dead end.
Visit to the White House
Zelensky will also be received tomorrow by US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington. The conversation will be about continued US support for Ukraine in the Russian war of aggression. Zelensky will also meet with representatives from the US Congress. Biden asked Congress for additional aid to Ukraine worth 24 billion dollars (around 22.5 billion euros), but there is resistance from the ranks of opposition Republicans.