War in Ukraine: UN in emergency session and on the grill
UN, New York, February 28, 2022: Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, before the General Assembly meeting in emergency session.
REUTERS - CARLO ALLEGRI
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
This Tuesday again the 193 members of the UN are meeting for a second day of extraordinary emergency general assembly.
A litany of criticism rained down on Moscow all day yesterday.
The countries are also sorry for the humanitarian crisis which could cause up to 7 million people to be displaced in Ukraine.
Advertising
Read more
with our correspondent in New York
,
Carrie Nooten
The extraordinary assembly began yesterday, Monday, with a solemn minute of silence and then pleas to Moscow for respect for international law and the United Nations, were pronounced by Antonio Guterres and the president of the Assembly.
The UN knows it is playing its backup.
►
Also to follow
: our live on the war in Ukraine
"
The use of force and coercion to change borders no longer has a place in the 21st century,
" said Olof Skoog, European Union Ambassador to New York.
We are now at a crucial and historic moment: too often in the past, the international community has been blind or too slow in the face of unfolding tragedies.
Entire generations have paid, and are still paying, the price of inaction.
We can't make the same mistake again.
We have to act !
»
The 193 members should vote this week on a text in which they deplore Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and where they condemn its decision to use its nuclear arsenal.
Yesterday, African and Latin American countries massively joined the West.
The Arab world remains in the background, and
China distances
itself, embarrassed it seems.
Russian diplomats at the UN expelled from the United States
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia was about to speak to the press on Monday afternoon when his cell phone rang, says our correspondent in New York,
Carrie Nooten .
.
He took the call and affirmed that he had just learned live of the notification of expulsion of twelve of his colleagues, all diplomats at the mission… They have one week to leave New York.
"This is bad news," conceded the Moscow representative.
Himself and his two deputy ambassadors are not concerned.
But he believes that the United States, host country of the United Nations, has broken its commitments.
"It's a hostile move against our country," said the ambassador in Washington.
For the United States, these twelve agents would have “abused their diplomatic status by engaging in espionage activities.
On the other hand, they assure that their investigation began several months ago, implying that it is not a question of a response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
UN
Russia
Ukraine