Original title: Foreign media: At the special meeting of the Security Council, Blinken and Lavrov tit-for-tat
Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao” website reported on the 23rd that the United Nations Security Council held a special meeting to discuss the Ukrainian conflict. At the meeting, US Secretary of State Blinken accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “adding fuel to the fire” in Ukraine, emphasizing that Putin must not be criticized. Actions were ignored; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov countered the Western collective instigation of the conflict.
According to Agence France-Presse and Reuters, Blinken accused Putin of a series of recent measures, including announcing the call of reservists and planning to hold a referendum on membership in regions such as Donbass.
“We cannot, absolutely cannot, allow President (Russian) Putin to do whatever he wants,” Blinken said.
Blinken said it was crucial to underscore that “no country can use force to redefine another country’s borders” with clear action.
According to the report, Lavrov did not attend the special meeting of the Security Council on time. He showed up after a period of time at the meeting, and left the venue immediately after delivering his speech, showing his disdain for the criticism of various countries by his actions.
Lavrov is reported to have lashed out at the Western accusations at the meeting, saying: “Today, someone is trying to impose a very different statement on us, trying to blame Russia for the root of this tragedy.”
He accused Ukraine of “Russian phobia,” including the imposition of Ukrainian language rules, and said “the United States and its allies, with the connivance of international human rights organizations, have been covering up the crimes of the Kyiv regime.”
Lavrov also said: “The collective intention of the West to incite this conflict remains unpunished. Of course, you will not punish yourself here.”
The report pointed out that since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on February 24, Blinken has refused to meet Lavrov one-on-one.
▲On January 21, 2022 local time, in Geneva, Switzerland, US Secretary of State Blinken met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.