UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2022) Russia will continue pushing for a UN Security Council meeting on Monday to discuss the latest provocation in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, despite obstruction from the United Kingdom, which is presiding over the body this month, deputy envoy to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said.
"It's hard to imagine ... but the UK presidency of the UN Security Council which has just started tries to deny our right to request a separate meeting of the Council on heinous Ukrainian provocation in Bucha. We asked for it to take place at 15.00 (19:00 GMT) on Monday 4 April 24hrs in advance of the planned meeting in full respect of SC rules of procedure," Polyanskiy wrote on Telegram.
The UK risks compromising its UNSC presidency from the very beginning, he warned, noting that Russia, while presiding over the body in February, did not object to a single meeting on Ukraine "despite all the Ukrainian provocations and tense situation on the ground."
"They (Britain) clearly want to avoid us raising this issue separately which will cause reputational damage to Western countries who have already blamed Russia for murdering civilians in Bucha. This will not work and the world should learn the truth. We will insist that the meeting takes place on Monday as we requested," he added.
Over the weekend, the Ukrainian authorities and Western media distributed video showing the bodies of dead civilians strewn across Bucha and accused the Russian forces, which withdrew from the town on March 30, of the killings. The Russian Defense Ministry said the footage was a staged provocation and that no civilians were killed at the time the Russian forces controlled Bucha.
