US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to consider booting Russia from the council as President Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to kill innocent men, women and children in Ukraine.
Mr Blinken questioned whether the nation can remain among the 47 member states while “committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering” to another member state.
“One can reasonably ask whether a UN member state that tries to take over another UN member state – while committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering – should be allowed to remain on this council,” he said in his speech to the council on Tuesday morning.
The secretary of state condemned Russia for “hitting schools, hospitals and residential buildings” during its assault on Ukraine in the intense meeting of member states where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation and diplomats staged a mass walkout when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the council.
“They are destroying critical infrastructure, which provides millions of people across Ukraine with drinking water, gas to keep them from freezing to death, and electricity. Civilian buses, cars, and even ambulances have been shelled. Russia is doing this every day – across Ukraine,” Mr Blinken said.
The top US diplomat also slammed member nations such as China who have not called out Russia over its “unprovoked attack” and called on the council to do its job and “come together” to stop the human rights abuses in Ukraine.
“These are the human rights abuses this council was created to stop. If we cannot come together now, when will we come together?” he asked.
His comments came as Russia warned civilians to leave their homes in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as it threatened to carry out strikes across the city.
In the last few days, civilian areas have been increasingly targeted by Mr Putin’s forces with at least one child and two adults being killed after bombs were dropped on a preschool in the city of Okhtyrka.
The incident is now being investigated as a war crime.
This came after a schoolgirl, believed to be just nine or 10 years old, was shot dead along with her parents in their car in Kyiv.
The UN said that at least 136 Ukrainian civilians, including 13 children, have been killed in the six days since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, though the agency admits that the true figures are likely much higher.
In Tuesday’s meeting, more than 100 diplomats from 40 nations walked out as Mr Lavrov addressed the council remotely, in a huge show of support for Ukraine.
The boycott left the Russian minister isolated with only a handful of member states including Syria and China listening to his speech where he claimed the EU was engaging in a “Russophobic frenzy” by sending weapons to help Ukrainian troops defend the nation.
By contrast, Mr Zelensky received a standing ovation as he addressed the council remotely, saying that “this is the price of freedom”.
“Nobody is going to break us. We are strong, we are Ukrainians,” he said in the impassioned speech.
The translator was heard choking up as Mr Zelensky said Ukrainians are “fighting for our freedom, for our rights and for our survival” in their home country.
The Ukrainian president called on the council members to “prove that you are with us” hours after he asked the EU to grant the nation immediate membership to the EU.
