NEW YORK / OSLO (VG) On Friday, Russia spent time in the Security Council on what the United States has called “conspiracy theories.” Britain’s UN ambassador Barbara Woodward believes Russia’s claims do not belong in the council.
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“This is deceiving the Security Council’s mandate,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told VG.
– There is no evidence. We discussed Ukraine yesterday and then we talked about the war and its humanitarian, regional and international ripple effects. There are other topics on the Security Council’s agenda that need our attention.
She then lists the situation in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar and Afghanistan.
– We do not need to spend our time on disinformation, she says.
BACKGROUND: US UN Ambassador harshly against Russia’s “conspiracy theories”
“Propaganda”
On Friday, the 15 members of the Security Council met at the UN headquarters in Manhattan, New York. Norway is a member of the council until December 2022.
Over the past three weeks, there have been several meetings of the Security Council to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.
During Friday’s meeting – which Russia itself had called for – Russia once again claimed that Ukraine has tried to acquire biological weapons in cooperation with the United States.
The allegations have previously been rejected as lies and misinformation by several member states in the Security Council. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg har also called the allegations «absurd accusations».
The UN informed last week that they are not familiar with biological weapons programs.
– We see little reason to place any emphasis on the so-called evidence that they presented during the meeting itself. This is part of the war propaganda that Russia is now leading, says Norway’s UN ambassador Mona Juul to VG.
–After the meeting, Vassily Nebenzia came out to the press area for a brief comment:
– Our partners are in complete denial. They do not listen to what we say to them. They will not accept that we present facts and not just propaganda.
Juul, like Woodward, agrees that Russia is wasting time on the council.
“The fact that Russia, which has started this war, is trying to set the agenda is an abuse of the Security Council and almost a breach of the intentions of the UN Charter,” Juul said.
She points out that the UN was created to find solutions to conflicts between different parties, but that one party is now trying to change the narrative.
Massive influx of refugees
More than 700 civilians, 52 of them children, have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since the start of the war. shows UN figures. The number is probably “much higher”.
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and other health institutions in Ukraine. It is estimated that three million have fled the country.
Neighboring countries have taken the brunt of the influx of refugees. Poland, which alone has received 1.9 million, has asked the rest of Europe for help.
According to UN estimates, 90 percent of the Ukrainian population is at risk of poverty as a result of the Russian invasion.
–Russia currently sits as one of five permanent member states of the Security Council. This means that Russia – in all matters dealt with in the Council – can veto. As a member of the council, they can too present resolutions and convene meetings.
– Is the time ripe to look at the right of veto and the organization of the Security Council?
– Yes absolutely. Norway is a driving force for the ongoing process of reform of the Security Council. Both the right of veto and permanent membership are in Norway’s interest to be changed to better reflect the world today, Juul says to VG.
The work of reforming the UN’s highest body, the Security Council, has so far not been successful. This is despite the fact that the General Assembly already in 1993 set up a working group to assess reform of the Security Council, no agreement has yet been reached, writes the UN on its pages.
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