The United States will ask the United Nations General Assembly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield said on Monday, after Ukraine accused Russian forces of killing dozens of civilians in the town of Bucha.

A two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, which includes 193 members, can suspend the membership of any country in the Council for committing gross and systematic violations of human rights during its membership.

"Russia's participation in the Human Rights Council is a farce," Greenfield said in statements she made in Bucharest on Monday.

"This is a mistake, which is why we believe it is time for the United Nations General Assembly to vote to disqualify her," she added.

Greenfield told Reuters she aims to bring Russia's suspension to a vote in the General Assembly this week.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Council has adopted two resolutions condemning Russia, with the approval of at least 140 votes.

Moscow says it is carrying out a "special military operation" to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure.

During her visit to Romania to follow how it handled the influx of Ukrainian refugees, Greenfield told reporters, "My message to those 140 countries that bravely stood together is that the images of Bucha and the devastation across Ukraine now require us to match our words with deeds."


The British delegate to the UN Security Council, Barbara Woodward, also said that the UK strongly supports the US call to suspend Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council.

The British delegate added that her country and its partners will move forward in the coming days to hold a vote in the United Nations General Assembly on the matter.

For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia should not have a place in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"I spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the current security situation and the Bucha massacre," Kuleba added on Twitter.

"I stressed that Ukraine will use all available UN mechanisms to collect evidence and hold Russian war criminals to account. Russia has no place in the UN Human Rights Council," he said.

On the other hand, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, said that it was unlikely that this initiative would win the support of the majority, while the Moscow mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Washington is exploiting the Ukraine crisis for its own benefit in an attempt to exclude or suspend Russia's membership in international organizations, including the Human Rights Council here in Geneva," Gatilov added.

Russia is in the second year of a 3-year term on the Geneva-based council.

The council cannot make legally binding decisions, but its decisions send important political messages and can authorize investigations.