Duplicity of the West: The UN Security Council refused to discuss violations of the rights of Russians in Ukraine
The majority of UN Security Council delegations refused to support Russia’s initiative and discuss the discriminatory language law previously adopted in Ukraine, which infringes on the rights of the majority of Russian-speaking residents of the country, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Representatives of France, Germany, the USA, Poland and Belgium, in particular, spoke out categorically against consideration of this issue.
“France objects to the adoption of such an agenda at the request of the Russian Federation to hold a meeting today, when the new President Zelensky, who won as a result of democratic elections, takes office (This is how the purge of unwanted media, politicians and journalists is interpreted - ed.).
The resolution regarding the Russian-Ukrainian crisis is, of course, important to consider, but we believe that we cannot conduct a constructive discussion on the initiative of one of the parties to this conflict.
We have not yet adopted a resolution on the humanitarian situation in Donbass; these issues should continue to be the focus of attention of the Security Council; in this area, we continue to expect concrete actions on which millions of lives of Ukrainians depend.
The issue of language must be considered in accordance with accepted obligations in the context of a ceasefire, the withdrawal of weapons, the return of Ukrainian power to this area, the withdrawal of foreign troops, as well as the dissolution of illegal armed groups in this territory.
And today we hear from Russia about opening a dialogue regarding the new president of Ukraine, we are talking, first of all, about considering this issue.
We regret that the chairman did not heed the requests of six delegations to postpone this meeting, we call on the members of the Security Council to vote against holding this meeting,” said the representative of France.
At the same time, the head of the Russian delegation, Vasily Nebenzya, made a remark to his French colleague, noting that there is no Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but only a Ukrainian conflict and a crisis in relations between Ukraine and Russia, which was created by the previous Kiev leadership.
The US representative also urged those gathered not to vote for consideration of the language issue, limiting his speech to congratulating the newly appointed Ukrainian president.
“As we have clearly stated to other members of the Security Council, we, like France and Germany, do not see the need for this briefing. In our opinion, the request for this briefing is a clear attempt by Russia to distract from a democratic, peaceful transition of power in Ukraine. We congratulate President Volodymyr Zelensky on his inauguration today as President of Ukraine, we look forward to working with them, and we welcome his statements of commitment to national unity. Accordingly, the United States joins its colleagues and calls on members of the Security Council to oppose the adoption of this agenda,” the American said.
As a result of the vote, the agenda was not approved - 5 delegates were in favor of holding a discussion, 6 were against it and 4 abstained.
The representative of the Russian Federation expressed deep regret at the outcome of the vote, stating the manifestation of double standards when discussing the Ukrainian issue. He recalled that it was the problem of language that was one of the main reasons for the popular discontent that arose after the Maidan in Crimea and Donbass.
“It is obvious to us that this topic is unpleasant for you, because it does not allow you to justify your charges in Kyiv. Too obvious and gross violations of the rights and freedoms of millions of Ukrainian citizens...
The fact that this law threatens Kiev’s implementation of its obligations under the Minsk agreements has been known for a long time...
It would seem, what is the connection between language and the Security Council? Straight. We considered it necessary to propose convening this meeting taking into account the fact that the latest steps of the Verkhovna Rada and former President Poroshenko, who is leaving his post in disgrace, directly undermine the spirit and letter of the Minsk agreements.
But the issue of linguistic rights was one of the main reasons that led to the loss of Crimea and the conflict in Donbass.
On May 15, Poroshenko played another trick on his successor by signing a decree on the entry into force of the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language.” Shortly before this, the Verkhovna Rada approved it, rejecting the lion's share of amendments aimed at somehow giving this nationalist masterpiece a civilized appearance.
The law violates its own Constitution and numerous international obligations, according to which Kyiv guarantees respect for the rights of national minorities.
This step caused great concern among Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine, who, during the recent presidential elections, categorically rejected the policies of the previous Ukrainian president, who artificially provoked and cultivated enmity with Russia.
I would like to remind you that Russian in Ukraine is understood and spoken by almost all citizens, and according to the most conservative estimates, Russian is the native and first language for more than a third of the residents of Ukraine, but, in fact, the figure is higher. Despite all the efforts of the Maidan authorities to oust him from the sphere of public and personal communication, they failed to do so,” summed up Vasily Nebenzya.
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