The EU's foreign affairs chief on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was just one of a rising number of cases where the "rule of force" has replaced international law.
Russia's UN ambassador in turn questioned whether the United Nations needed to talk with the EU that he accused of "pontificating" and being "Russophobic."
Eighty years after its creation the United Nations now faces "unprecedented pressure," EU high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas told a Security Council meeting on relations with the European Union.
"We see blatant violations of the UN Charter. We see attempts to replace the rule of law by the rule of force," the former Estonian prime minister said.
Kallas called for the respect of international law and human rights, saying "in every context they are at risk or actively violated. Be it in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Haiti or Ukraine."
Amid intense US pressure on Ukraine to make a deal to end fighting with Russia, Kallas reaffirmed EU support for Kyiv and its demands for a "just and lasting peace."
"Europe has learnt from its own history that giving in to aggressors' demands leads to more violence," the official told envoys including from the United States and Russia, two of the Security Council's permanent members.
"This war can end instantly if Russia -- the only one responsible -- withdraws its troops and stops bombing Ukraine. Russia can stop this war any time -- but it has chosen not to," Kallas said.
Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia hit back saying that the European Union which used to cooperate with Russia had become "a fossilized, aggressive, Russophobic bloc."
"I'd like to call on you to think long and hard about whether the UN needs to engage in dialogue with such a body which itself flagrantly violates human rights," the Russian envoy told the council.
The EU backed "pocket dictatorships" and imposed "harsh sanctions" on anyone who disagrees with it, he added.
Kallas also called on Israel to let aid into Gaza.
"It is imperative that the delivery of humanitarian aid is not politicized or conditional. Any and all blockades to delivery of aid at scale must be lifted," Kallas said.
Israel started a new blockade on aid entering Gaza on March 2, demanding that Palestinian militants Hamas accept its terms for extending a ceasefire that came into force in January.
