UN secretary-general under Western pressure on Ukraine – Russia

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claims Antonio Guterres has made statements outside his remit under the UN charter

FILE PHOTO. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. © Getty Images / Stephanie Keith

Speaking with the UN special envoy for Syria on Wednesday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has lamented what he described as the UN secretary-general bowing to Western pressure over the situation in Ukraine. Antonio Guterres has harshly criticized Russia’s recognition of the two breakaway Donbass republics as sovereign states.

Lavrov told Geir Pedersen, that, much to Moscow’s regret, it has turned out that the UN secretary-general “has yielded to Western pressure, and, in recent days, made several remarks regarding the situation in eastern Ukraine that are unbecoming to his status and fall outside his remit under the UN charter.”

Lavrov went on to say that Moscow had analyzed statements made by Antonio Guterres and his predecessors. Never before had the UN secretary-general made such remarks about any other previous armed conflict, he said. Russia has notified the UN secretary-general of its assessment.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Guterres had slammed Russia’s decision to recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as a “violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.” The UN secretary-general warned that Moscow’s move was a “death blow to the Minsk agreements endorsed by the Security Council.”

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 UN chief assesses Russia’s move to recognize Donbass republics

In a televised address on Monday, the Russian president said his government would “immediately”recognize the two republics – created in the wake of Ukraine’s 2014 EuroMaidan coup – and ordered the Russian military to “secure peace” in the newly recognized republics as a peacekeeping force.

Putin cited the failure of the Minsk agreements to halt fighting between separatist forces and Ukrainian troops in the country’s east, saying Kiev is “not interested in peaceful solutions” and is planning a “Blitzkrieg” in the Donbass. While a ceasefire was arranged following negotiations in 2014 and 2015, Putin said Ukraine had failed to grant special status to Donetsk and Lugansk as stipulated in the Minsk accords.

https://www.rt.com/russia/550324-un-pressure-west-ukraine/