A Security Council meeting requested by Moscow yielded little new insight – but heated debates. Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to distract from its responsibilities.
When the emergency meeting started, the person who had requested it from the Security Council had already left. Immediately after the Russian military plane crashed, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underlined the Kremlin’s accusation at a press conference in New York: Ukraine shot down the plane.
In the Security Council itself, Moscow only had its deputy UN ambassador make these accusations: Dmitri Polyansky spoke of a “devious act of terrorism” and said: “All the information we have shows that what we are doing here is a deliberate, well-thought-out act have to do with crimes.”
Planned prisoner exchange
The Ukrainian leadership knew very well the route of the aircraft over which the prisoners of war were to be flown to the place where the alleged exchange was to take place.
The Ukrainian authorities had confirmed that a prisoner exchange had been planned and then canceled. However, there was no confirmed information about who was on board the crashed plane, according to UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo.
Rockets or prisoners of war?
“According to the Russian authorities, there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six Russian crew members and three Russian military personnel,” DiCarlo said. “However, according to Ukrainian information, the plane may have been carrying missiles for the Russian military.”
Both countries have initiated investigations. But it remains difficult for the United Nations to actually shed light on the circumstances of the plane crash due to mutual allegations by the warring parties.
Independent investigation called for
Ukraine called for an independent international investigation. Kiev’s deputy UN ambassador Khrystyna Hayovyshyn underlined: “Since Russia invaded Crimea almost ten years ago, since it started a war against Ukraine two years ago, we have seen so often that Russia is capable of any crime and any provocation “To justify his injuries and distract from the real issue.” Namely, the war that Russia started to destroy Ukrainian statehood.
The deputy UN envoy from Washington, Robert Wood, also argued similarly. Like many UN diplomats, he accused Moscow of once again using the UN stage to distract from its military actions. Russia’s hasty call for an emergency meeting on the plane crash follows a familiar script, Wood said.
Russia has repeatedly tried to shift responsibility for the tragedies of this senseless war of its own choosing and to portray itself as a victim – and not as the aggressor.
Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, tagesschau, January 26, 2024 5:40 a.m