Ukraine’s allies denounced Russia’s “cynicism” on Monday at a meeting chaired by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Security Council at a meeting called to defend multilateralism.

The call from Russia, the acting president of this forum whose mission is to ensure security and peace in the world, convened a meeting to study multilateralism and the UN Charter, which it claims to defend and which many countries like a mockery of Moscow is considered.

“By organizing this debate, Russia is trying to profile itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism, but that is no less true. It is cynical,” Olof Skookg, representative of the European Union, said before the meeting in a joint statement on behalf of the 27 members.

“The Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly of the United Nations, the ICJ, the ICC: whichever way you look at it, Russia is despised,” said Ambassador Olof Skoog, recalling that if Russia is concerned about the multilateralism, the first thing you need to do is remove Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield recalled that the Russian invasion is not “self-defense”.

“Russia simply wants to push international borders by force, in violation of the United Nations Charter.” which goes against what this institution advocates, he recalled.

“This does not only concern Ukraine or Europe. It concerns us all. Because today is Ukraine. But tomorrow it could be another country,” he said before wondering if the Security Council’s answer should be “lazy watching.”

Given the impossibility of doing this in the Council because of the right of veto Russia, one of the five permanent members, along with China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, lThe UN General Assembly has called for the “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

“Devastation”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned to the Russian Foreign Minister the “devastation and suffering” of the Ukrainian people and in the world caused by the Russian “invasion”, which violates the Charter of the United Nations and of international law.

Lavrov attributes the “deep crisis” of the United Nations system to the “desire of some members (…) to replace international law and the Charter of the United Nations with a certain rules-based order”.

“Not everything revolves around Ukraine. It is about how international relations will continue to take shape through the building of a solid consensus based on a balancing of interests. Or the aggressive and volatile advance of Washington’s hegemony,” he said in a lengthy victim message.

Guterres particularly recalled those countries that have permanent seats on the Council, such as Russia, but also the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom, that they have “a special responsibility to make multilateralism work, rather than contribute to its fragmentation”, and warned of the “risks of conflict” resulting from “misfortune or miscalculation”.

“We need to find a way to move forward and act now, as we have done before, to stop the slide into chaos and conflict,” he said before adding that “it is time to deepen cooperation and multilateral strengthen institutions, to find common solutions.” to common challenges”.

Reform to the UN Council

Most countries have used their interventions to request reform of a system created in 1945 at the end of World War II so that it “reflects current geopolitical realities”.

Brazil’s deputy representative Joao Genesio recalled that the current composition of the Security Council “is not compatible with the current geopolitical reality”.

“Neither Africa, nor Latin America, nor the Caribbean are represented in the category of permanent countries, resulting in the “increasing illegality” of this forum to “make decisions on the peace and security agenda,” said Joao Genesio .