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If the diplomats at the United Nations are accustomed to discreet questions, I am having none of it as Russia continues its unconscionable attack on Ukraine, the very type of unbridled aggression for which the U.N. was founded to prevent.I asked the Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vassily Nebenzia this:”When will Vladimir Putin stop his war crimes?””When will you stop this obscene assault against Ukraine?””And when will Vladimir Putin surrender (in) your assault and barbaric war against Ukraine?””Will you stop for the sake of humanity?”
A destroyed Russian tank is seen after battles on a main road near Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine on Thursday.
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)UK HITS RUSSIA, BELARUS WITH MORE THAN 300 SANCTIONS OVER UKRAINE INVASION Nebenzia replied, “When the goals of the special military operations are achieved, it will stop,” rehashing the Kremlin talking points about Putin’s intentions.The ambassador also accused Ukraine of being the aggressor, claiming that for eight years, “Ukrainian armed forces and radicals were shelling and bombing Donetsk and Lugansk without any reproach, basically any reproach from the international community.” That was a reference to Putin’s push into the eastern part of Ukraine, the Donbas region in 2014.Nebenzia also accused Ukraine of using cluster munitions, when actually the U.N. says that there “are credible reports” that it is the Russian forces firing them against civilians and civilian targets such as hospitals, an act that would be considered a war crime.
Firemen work to clear the rubble and extinguish a fire by a heavily damaged building after a Russian rocket exploded just outside.
(Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images)His comments came before a United Nations Security Council meeting, and he is calling for a vote on a Russian-backed resolution addressing the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Ukraine, a situation directly due to his nation’s attack. That vote is expected Wednesday, and Nebenzia said that it would call for a negotiated cease-fire and evacuation of civilians, and that international and human rights law must be respected. But he said that the cease-fire would only take place if the demands of Russia are met, including what he called “the demilitarization of Ukraine, de-Nazification of Ukraine, no threat which would come from that territory from that country to Russia, no joining NATO … the goal of joining NATO is in the Ukrainian constitution, so it should be dropped from there.”STATE DEPT SAYS IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL WILL NOT BE AN ‘ESCAPE HATCH’ FOR RUSSIAN SANCTIONS
Ukrainian soldiers and firefighters search in a destroyed building after a bombing attack in Kyiv, Ukraine
(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)Nebenzia also criticized the United Nations, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, for “accusing Russia of indiscriminate attacks.”Reports, however, say that Russian forces are only escalating their attacks against the civilian population, prompting outrage around the globe. But Nebenzia does not view it that way.”I do not recall the level of outrage and hysterics” being directed toward his country, he said, that was aimed at the United States during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.Fox News’ Ben Evansky contributed to this report.
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