Russian Foreign Minister: UN 'turned a blind eye' as Ukraine attacked Kursk
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United Nations was turning a blind eye to the outrageous actions of Ukrainian forces during their incursion into Russia's Kursk region, launched last month.
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In an interview with Russia's TASS news agency on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, published early on September 25, Lavrov said that Ukrainian "terrorist groups" were using Western weapons to carry out actions in Kursk.
"They bomb many houses every day, attack social organizations, and peace-loving people are moving by car to safer places," he told the news agency.
"I have not heard any voice from the representatives of the United Nations responsible for human rights, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations," he added, referring to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Ukraine and human rights groups have accused Russia of carrying out indiscriminate bombing of civilians and other actions since the conflict broke out in February 2022.
Kiev says it is defending itself against a war aimed at erasing its national identity. Russia describes its actions as a special operation to protect its security against a hostile West.
Ukrainian forces crossed the border into the Kursk region in early August, officials said, seizing large swaths of territory and about 100 settlements.
The Russian military has said in recent weeks that it has retaken some of those towns and villages. Russia has previously said it was ready to negotiate with Ukraine if Kiev withdrew its troops from three territories it annexed, but has now said there can be no talks while its troops remain in Kursk.
In remarks to TASS, Lavrov also warned Eastern European countries, allies of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and now part of NATO and the European Union, that Western leaders despise them.
“The Eastern European countries that are now under the auspices of NATO or the roof of the European Union must understand how their bosses feel about them. Those people do not trust them, do not even want to give them access to any important job positions,” Lavrov said.
Mr. Lavrov also told TASS that more and more countries are rejecting the US dollar as a reference currency, which was once praised by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as a "global asset."
“What is it now? Now people are either running away from the dollar, or in the case of people who are too dependent on this system, trying to gradually reduce their dependence,” he said.
