A large number of delegates, including France, Germany and England, left the hall at the United Nations Human Rights Council to protest the speech of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin.
“We fully support Ukraine. We want to see a just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter,” Britain’s UN Permanent Representative Simon Manley stated in his speech, also arguing that Ukraine should be at the negotiating table.
“If we ignore the events in Ukraine without reacting, we will open the door to the disintegration of the fundamental principles on which the UN was founded,” France’s UN Permanent Representative Jerome Bonnafont said.
On the other hand, Sergey Vershinin accused Ukraine of “flagrant violations of basic human rights” and accused Western countries of “Russophobia,” and said “Protecting human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” in his speech.”
TR