Dozens of delegates walk out of Russia's speech to UN rights council

By Olivia Le Poidevin

Dozens of dignitaries walked out of Russia's speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday in support of Ukraine.

The delegates, including the ambassadors of France, Germany and Britain, gathered outside of the room where the session was taking place, to mark three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Our support for Ukraine is ironclad. We want to see a just and enduring peace in line with the U.N. charter and with international law," Britain's Ambassador to the U.N. and World Trade Organisation, Simon Manley, told Reuters.

"There can be no peace without Ukraine. Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table," said Manley, who walked out of the speech as it started.

Washington left its seat at the Human Rights Council empty, in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to quit the body, which is the only intergovernmental organisation that protects human rights.

In his speech to the council, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin accused Ukraine of a "flagrant violation of fundamental human rights", accusing it of Russophobia and discriminating against Russians inside Ukraine.

"Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards," Vershinin added.

Dozens of countries rallied behind Ukraine at a meeting at the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday, a day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that takes a neutral stance on the conflict, reflecting Trump's upending of U.S. policy on Ukraine and his more conciliatory stance towards Russia.

The event was held to commemorate "resistance to the Russian aggression", following the adoption of the resolution in New York.