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Russia lost elections to top three UN bodies this week after the Kremlin said peace talks with Ukraine ought to focus on “creating a new world order”.
The votes in the 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) follow the approval of six non-binding resolutions against Russia by the 193-member UN General Assembly.
Russia lost to Estonia for a chance to become a member of Unicef’s executive board, was defeated by Romania for a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women and lost to Armenia and the Czech Republic for membership on the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the votes were “a clear signal from ECOSOC members that no country should hold positions on critical UN bodies when they are in flagrant violation of the UN Charter”.
The votes come after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: “Any negotiation needs to be based on taking into account Russian interests, Russian concerns.”
“It should be about the principles on which the new world order will be based,” AFP quoted him as saying.
