(ANSA) — NEW YORK, APRIL 5 — Moscow has used its rotating presidency of the UN Security Council to organize an informal meeting on Ukrainian children who have been forcibly deported to Russia and defended itself against an accusation made by the International Criminal Court (ICC) considers justified as war crimes challenged.
Several countries including the US, UK and Malta walked out of the courtroom. A coalition of more than 50 nations accused Moscow of disinformation during the meeting, which was streamed with the intervention of ICC-indicted Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova. The 50 member countries – including Italy, other EU countries, the US and Ukraine – stressed that “there is no disinformation spread by Russia that could deny the truth of the matter or shield individuals from responsibility for these crimes”. Moscow, they added, “continues to abuse the powers and privileges of a permanent member of the UN Security Council to spread disinformation about its widespread kidnapping and illegal forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children.” The UK had asked the UN not to televise the meeting live precisely because of the presence of Lvova-Belova, who, along with Vladimir Putin, has received an arrest warrant on the matter. “If he wants to give an account of his actions, he can do so in The Hague,” commented the British mission. But Russia streamed it on YouTube, with simultaneous translation. Lvova-Belova argued that Moscow is ready to cooperate in reuniting Ukrainian children with their families. “We have no doubt that this is a campaign to discredit our country,” he said, repeating that Russia has not recognized the jurisdiction of the international tribunal. (HAND).
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