(ANSA) – NEW YORK, APRIL 05 – Moscow has used its rotating presidency of the UN Security Council to organize an informal meeting on Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia, defending itself against an accusation that the International Criminal Court (ICC) ) of justice contested as a war crime.
Several countries including the USA, the UK and Malta walked out of the courtroom. A coalition of more than 50 nations accused Moscow of disinformation during the meeting, which was streamed with the intervention of the Russian commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova, indicted by the ICC. The 50 member countries – including Italy, other EU states, the US and Ukraine – stressed that “there is no disinformation spread by Russia that could deny the truth of the matter or protect individuals from responsibility for these crimes”. Moscow, they added, continues to “abuse the powers and privileges of a permanent member of the UN Security Council to spread disinformation about its widespread kidnapping and illegal forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children”. The United Kingdom had asked the UN not to broadcast the meeting live on its TV circuit precisely due to the presence of Lvova-Belova, the recipient of an arrest warrant together with Vladimir Putin for this affair. “If he wants to give an account of her actions, he can do it in The Hague,” commented the British mission. But Russia has streamed it on Youtube, with simultaneous translation. Lvova-Belova argued that Moscow is ready to cooperate with the reunification of Ukrainian children with their families. “We have no doubts that this is a campaign to discredit our country,” she said, reiterating that Russia has not recognized the jurisdiction of the international tribunal. (HANDLE).
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