Russia, Ukraine clash at UN Security Council
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 20 March 2014 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia, Ukraine clash at UN Security Council, 20 March 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/534d309bf.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
March 20, 2014
Ukrainian ambassador the UN Yuriy Serheyev speaks to the media after a UN Security Council meeting in New York, March 3.
Ukraine and Russia clashed at a UN Security Council meeting March 19 over Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Kyiv's ambassador to the UN, Yuriy Sergeyev, told the meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine that Russia's annexation of the peninsula was "illegitimate" and constituted a "violent dismembering" of Ukrainian territory.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said people in Crimea voted freely in a referendum to join Russia and that "a historic injustice had been righted caused by a pen stroke of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev," who awarded Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954.
During the meeting, US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power criticized Russia's "blatant disregard for global opinion and the legal rights of Ukraine."
It was the council's eighth meeting in three weeks on Ukraine.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website