Russia’s foreign minister told a Geneva disarmament meeting on Tuesday (March 1) that Ukraine has been seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a “real danger” that needed a Russian response.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday in what it called a special operation to demilitarise and “denazify” the country – a justification dismissed by Kyiv and the West as propaganda.
“Today the dangers that (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky’s regime pose for neighbouring countries and international security in general have increased substantially after the authorities set up in Kyiv have embarked upon dangerous games related to plans to acquire their own nuclear weapons,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Conference on Disarmament in a video address.
“Ukraine still has Soviet nuclear technologies and the means of delivery of such weapons. We cannot fail to respond to this real danger,” he said, also calling for Washington to rebase its nuclear weapons from Europe.
He delivered the speech to a thin crowd after many diplomats including France and Britain staged a walk-out to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as they did at a parallel UN meeting in Geneva on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko was among the numerous diplomats who filed out as the video began playing.
Outside they gathered in a circle front of a Ukrainian flag and broke into strong applause that could be heard in the chamber where Lavrov’s speech continued, with only a handful of ambassadors from countries including Yemen, Syria, Venezuela and Tunisia remaining to hear him.
“It is important to show a gesture of solidarity with our Ukrainian friends,” said French ambassador Yann Hwang.
Lavrov was supposed to attend the session in person but the visit was cancelled, with Russia accusing unidentified EU states of blocking his flight path.
Earlier, a minute of silence was held for the victims of fighting in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has enlivened the deadlocked arms negotiating forum that has failed to reach a deal in decades despite holding over 1,600 plenary meetings.
At the same meeting, Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Russia of war crimes through its shelling of his country and the ambassador called for a special meeting to address Russian aggression and weapons of mass destruction.
“Russian indiscriminate attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure are war crimes and violations of the Rome Statute,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told the disarmament meeting before Lavrov spoke.
“Russian aggression is a global threat,” he warned, insisting that “the response too must be global.”
A copy of the request said the meeting would address the “the use of conventional weapons against the civilian population as well as nuclear and other WMD threats”and called for concrete and specific actions.
It said the request was supported by “numerous other” members of the 65-member body, without naming them. Russia’s delegate objected to the meeting.
Source: National News Agency