Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that Europe is using double standards on migrants and spending billions of dollars on arming Kiev while forgetting about those in need in other parts of the world, during a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday in New York.
“It is Europe’s double standard on migrants when refugees from Ukraine are given the green light at all European borders while refugees from Africa, the Middle East and other regions are shut out,” Nebenzya said.
Nebenzya also commented on the referendums, noting that “this is a long-awaited event for the residents of Donbas, which should bring peace to their lands, that they have not seen for many years.”
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “this is an attempt to steal the territory of another state, this is an attempt to erase the norms of international law, this is a very cynical attempt to force the male population in the occupied territory of Ukraine to mobilise into the Russian army to send them to fight against their own. ”
“We will be tabling a resolution condemning these sham referenda, calling on the Member States not to recognise any altered status of Ukraine, and obliging Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to UN, stressed during the Security Council session.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine earlier this year after recognising the independence of the LPR and DPR.
Kiev condemned the action, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered martial law and his total mobilisation in February.
