Zelensky says ‘Russian society has raised a second Hitler’ in attack on Putin
Volodymyr Zelensky faces an in-person showdown today with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting of the UN Security Council, hours after warning Russia’s evil “cannot be trusted”.
Mr Zelensky is due to speak at the meeting and Mr Lavrov, one of Vladimir Putin’s top aides, is also expected to make remarks. Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the council.
Asked whether he would stay in the room to listen to Mr Lavrov, Mr Zelensky said: “I don’t know how it will be, really.”
Yesterday, the Ukrainian leader delivered a powerful speech to fellow UN leaders and urged the world to unite against Mr Putin. He warned of Russia using tactics that he claimed to be more catastrophic than those of nuclear destruction.
He said: “But truly not the nukes are the scariest now. While nukes remain in place, the mass destruction is gaining its momentum.”
The last time Mr Zelensky and Mr Lavrov faced each other at the UN Security Council in September 2022 was an explosive encounter. Mr Lavrov called Zelensky a “b******” and stormed out of the room.
