Austria was also involved in the coordinated action, as a spokeswoman for the APA Foreign Ministry confirmed. Lavrov, who was connected via video, read a lengthy statement in which he justified the attack with human rights violations on the Ukrainian side.
Lavrov initially wanted to attend the meeting in person. The trip was then canceled with reference to the blocking of European airspace for Russian aircraft. The Human Rights Council began its regular spring session on Monday.
During his speech, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a resolute and united international message to be sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Russia is increasingly violating human rights by bombing hospitals and schools, Blinken said in a video message to the UN Human Rights Council.
In his speech on Tuesday, Lavrov again accused Ukraine of years of terrorizing members of the Russian minority. Their human rights have been violated in many ways. The West not only looked on, but supported this. He repeatedly mentioned the USA, Canada and the European Union. More than 100,000 people from the Donbass region have fled to Russia since mid-February.
The government in Kyiv wants to turn its country into an “anti-Russia” “to please the West,” Lavrov said after the English UN translation of his speech. Western countries are “obsessed” with sanctions that Lavrov described as illegal. According to him, they were aimed at ordinary people. “The West has clearly lost control of itself because it wants to vent its anger on Russia,” Lavrov said, according to the translator.
In his video message, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) emphasized that he “strongly” condemned the invasion of Russian forces in Ukraine. Schallenberg called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to “end this senseless war immediately. The Russian military aggression will leave behind thousands of dead, displaced or marked for life, families torn apart and traumatized children,” he warned, according to the speech. “Historical revisionism, disinformation and the use of military force instead of diplomacy are bringing back the demons of the past that we thought we left behind.” Schallenberg also expressed “Austria’s full solidarity with Ukraine”.
According to the United Nations, more than 100 civilians have been killed in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. In addition, more than 300 bystanders were injured, the office of UN human rights representative Michelle Bachelet announced on Monday in Geneva. At least seven children were among the dead.
Source: Nachrichten
