Dozens of delegates walk out of Russia's speech to UN rights council

By Olivia Le Poidevin

Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia's speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine.

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 U.N. charter," Britain's Ambassador to the U.N. and World Trade Organization, Simon Manley, said.

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"Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table," said Manley, who walked out of the speech as it started.

"If we let slide what happened with Ukraine without reacting...we would open the door to a disintegration of fundamental principles on which the U.N. was founded," France's Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said.

Washington's seat at the Human Rights Council was empty after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to quit the body, which is the only intergovernmental organisation that protects human rights.

In his speech to the council, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin accused Ukraine of a "flagrant violation of fundamental human rights", accusing it of Russophobia.

"Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards," Vershinin added.

Ukraine's representative criticised Russia for defying international law.

"The aggressor should be punished, aggression should not be rewarded," Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mariana Betsa, told the council.

After her speech, she told Reuters there should be no bilateral talks with Russia.

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"The EU should be present and the U.S. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," she said, adding Ukraine needs clear security guarantees.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that takes a neutral stance on the conflict, reflecting Trump's upending of U.S. policy on Ukraine and his more conciliatory stance towards Russia.