UN chief and West berate Russia’s top diplomat over Ukraine
The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russia’s top diplomat as he chaired a UN meeting, accusing Moscow of violating the UN Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his country’s military action and accusing the US and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the UN’s 193 member nations the organisation’s “beating heart” and “guiding vision,” and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.
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0224 GMT — New EU sanctions on Russia no earlier than “deep into May”: Poland
A new round of European Union sanctions against Russia for waging war against Ukraine is under discussion but adoption of the package is unlikely earlier than “deep into May”, Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau has said.
It would be unrealistic to expect anything earlier, the Polish state-run news agency PAP cited Rau as saying.
“All of this still in the discussion phase … I think that the matter will be closed no sooner than deep into May,” Rau said. “You can’t expect anything sooner.”
Poland this month presented a proposal for a new set of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on pipeline oil and diamond imports.
0100 GMT — Ex-Wagner commander to appear in Norway court
A former commander in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway will appear in an Oslo court to answer charges he was involved in a bar fight, resisted arrest and carried an air gun.
Andrei Medvedev, 26, crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in January and has spoken out about his time fighting with Russian invasion forces in Ukraine. He has applied for asylum in Norway.
In one incident he is accused of fighting with another person outside an Oslo bar on Feb. 22. When police arrived, the charge sheet said, Medvedev resisted arrest and kicked at least one officer.
0028 GMT — Russia warns again that risks of nuclear confrontation with US growing
Risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying.
Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry’s head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with Moscow.
Since the start of its Ukraine offensive 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the US and what it calls “the collective West” for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kiev’s allies.
“If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion,” Yermakov said.
Source: TRTworld.com