US, Russia trade harsh barbs over Ukraine
The US and Russia trade barbs at a UN Security Council meeting, with the Russian envoy accusing Washington of “playing a destructive role” in Ukraine.
The heated exchanges came ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow on Monday to discuss Syria and Ukraine.
The Friday spat delayed the Security Council meeting for nearly an hour and a half because Russia objected to its agenda to discuss human rights situation in east Ukraine.
Russian United Nations Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said human rights discussions belong in Geneva at the Human Rights Council.
He also hit out at US Ambassador Samantha Power's handling of the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, saying she has "introduced wrong elements."
"Washington is playing a destructive role" in Ukraine, Churkin said.
Churkin said the US-backed Kiev was continuing an economic blockade of eastern Ukraine and refusing to engage in direct dialog with pro-Russia fighters.
Power accused the Kremlin of trying to prevent the open discussion of facts.
“Compromise is something Kiev clearly does not want,” said the Russian ambassador, adding the Ukrainian government still sticks to belligerent rhetoric and continues its military preparations.
The conflict in Ukraine broke out in March 2014 following a referendum in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, in which people voted overwhelmingly for unification with Russia. The situation, however, degenerated into a major armed conflict after Kiev dispatched troops to Lugansk and Donetsk in April 2014 in an attempt to suppress pro-Russia protests there.
An agreement was reached in the Belarusian capital city in February. According to the United Nations, over 8,000 people have perished in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Ukrainian conflict.
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