By Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist ——Bio and Archives--April 17, 2023
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As Russia’s war crimes multiply during the course of its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian regime is serving as the president of the United Nations Security Council for the month of April. The last time Russia served as Security Council president, which rotates among the 15 members monthly in alphabetical order, was in February 2022, the month that Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, held a press conference on April 3rd at which he derided accusations that Russia would be using its presidency to spread disinformation about Ukraine. But that is exactly what Russia is doing.
Just a few days after his press conference, Ambassador Nebenzia hosted an informal Security Council meeting on the “evacuation of Ukrainian children,” which he used to spread lies that Russia is saving Ukrainian children while Ukraine has been making them suffer. The meeting featured a virtual appearance by Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner who is an alleged war criminal.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against both Ms. Lvova-Belova and President Vladimir Putin for their alleged war crime of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. But Ambassador Nebenzia gave the alleged war criminal a platform to address the Security Council while deriding the ICC’s warrants as “stupid” and “illegitimate.”
To their credit, Albania, Malta, the United Kingdom, and the United States walked out of the farcical meeting in protest. The other ten members of the Security Council stayed put, including France and Japan. Although some of these members condemned Russia’s aggression, their very presence in the room provided a veneer of legitimacy to Russia’s manipulation of the Security Council to spread its vile propaganda.
Ambassador Nebenzia claimed that any suffering the Ukrainian children have endured, particularly those from Donbas, was all caused by “the criminal Kiev regime.” He said that these children “fell victim to a fratricidal policy of Kiev and geopolitical ambitions of its sponsors.” The Russian ambassador shamelessly portrayed his country as the children’s savior and used Russia’s typical propaganda ploy of evading responsibility for its war crimes by accusing Ukraine of forcefully “separating children from their living parents.”
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Orwellian-titled Commissioner for Children's Rights, complained about what she described as “untenable allegations” against her office. She said they were “an integral part of the campaign to “discredit Russia” and “an attempt to camouflage the Ukrainian authorities’ irresponsible actions regarding children.”
Russia does not need anyone else to discredit the aggressive actions of its megalomaniac ruler. The regime has done that all by itself with the atrocities it has committed in Ukraine. But the UN allows Russia to use its status as a permanent member of the Security Council, amplified this month by its power as Security Council president to set the Council’s agenda, to amplify its misinformation and propaganda.
According to recently leaked highly classified information, U.S. officials have complained that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been too willing to accommodate Russia even though, to his credit, the Secretary General has on a number of occasions strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reason for Secretary General Guterres’ accommodations to Russia might be his efforts to keep the Black Sea Grain deal on track at all costs. "Guterres emphasised his efforts to improve Russia's ability to export," one of the leaked documents said, "even if that involves sanctioned Russian entities or individuals."
Russia may not extend the grain deal unless it sees major progress on several of its demands, such as freeing up the ability to export its own grain and fertilizer, including the easing of shipping and insurance restrictions. Russia is also demanding, among other things, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payment system.
Another leaked document, as reported by the BBC, revealed a private conversation in which Secretary General Guterres purportedly expressed "dismay" at a call “for Europe to produce more weapons and ammunition as a result of the war in Ukraine.”
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Meanwhile, under apparent pressure from Russia, the Secretary General decided not to order a UN investigation into Iran's supply of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine that allegedly violated the 2015 Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsing the nuclear deal with Iran. That resolution expressly prohibits the transfer or receipt from Iran of ballistic missiles and drones exceeding specified range and payload thresholds until October 2023 without approval from the Security Council.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said, “Iran, in violation of Resolution 2231, provided Russia with drones to wreak havoc and inflict destruction on Ukrainian civilians. Russia, in violation of Resolution 2231, procured them. There is no doubt that the transfer occurred without approval by the council, and thus in violation of Resolution 2231."
Russia and Iran deny any such violation. An investigation by an impartial UN fact-finding team would be the best way to get to the truth. But Secretary General Guterres has held back despite his Security Council mandate to report on implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231.
Nevertheless, Secretary General Guterres' spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, pushed back hard when asked by reporters about the claim that Mr. Guterres has been too soft on Russia. Mr. Dujarric lashed out at what he called “the malfeasance or incompetence that allows for such private conversations to be distorted and become public."
We do not need to decipher private conversations. The Secretary General’s inaction on launching an investigation of Iranian drones used by Russia to wreak havoc in Ukraine speaks for itself.
As a highlight of the Security Council Russian presidency’s month-long propaganda festival, Russia has scheduled an open debate on April 24th to discuss “effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” How about Russia set an example by unconditionally ceasing its hostilities and pulling all its military forces out of all of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory immediately? Since, of course, there is no way that this would happen, the meeting Russia will be chairing on defending the principles of the UN Charter will be the equivalent of an arsonist leading a seminar on fire prevention.
The April 24th Security Council session is to be chaired by Russia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. Russian Ambassador Nebenzia said that he believed Foreign Minister Lavrov would be willing to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken if Mr. Blinken is available and indicates first his interest in holding such a bilateral meeting.
Instead, Mr. Blinken should show his disdain for Russia’s horrendous actions, including its illegal detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, by refusing to meet with Mr. Lavrov. He should also direct the U.S.’s UN representatives in attendance during the April 24th Security Council session to walk out when Mr. Lavrov, or whomever Russia designates, addresses the Council in his or her national capacity.
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Joseph A. Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom.