Dozens of delegates walked out of Russia’s speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in a show of support for Ukraine.
It was gathered that the delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany, and Britain, gathered outside the room where the session was taking place to mark three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Our support for Ukraine is ironclad. We want to see a just and enduring peace in line with the UN Charter and with international law.
“There can be no peace without Ukraine. Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table,” Britain’s ambassador to the UN and World Trade Organisation, Simon Manley, said.
Washington also reportedly left its seat at the Human Rights Council empty, following US President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the body, which is the only intergovernmental organisation dedicated to protecting human rights.
In his speech to the council, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Vershinin, accused Ukraine of flagrantly violating fundamental human rights, alleging that it engaged in Russophobia and discrimination against Russians inside Ukraine.
“Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” Vershinin said.
