Maria Lvova-Belova. AP
New Delhi: The United States, Britain, Albania, and Malta on Wednesday walked out on Russia’s envoy for children’s rights, whom the International Criminal Court wants to detain on war crimes accusations, as she spoke to UN Security Council members via video link.
Western ambassadors boycotted the informal UN Security Council meeting, instead sending low-level officials, reported Reuters.
The United Kingdom and the United States prevented the United Nations from webcasting an informal conference on Ukraine held by Russia to focus on “evacuating children from conflict zones.”
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s envoy for children’s rights, told a UN meeting Wednesday that the children were taken for their safety and Moscow is coordinating with international organizations to return them to their families, reported The Associated Press.
The International Criminal Court last month issued an arrest warrant for her and Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine.
Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, called the meeting to counter what it claims is disinformation about the Ukrainian children.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters before the session that the United States strongly opposed the briefing and joined the United Kingdom in blocking the United Nations from outside broadcast of the meeting.
Lvova-Belova should not be allowed “to have an international podium to spread disinformation and to try to defend her horrible actions that are taking place in Ukraine,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
According to Lvova-Belova, around 5 million Ukrainians, including 700,000 children, have traveled to Russia since February 2022.
She added that nearly 2,000 children were from orphanages and accompanied by custodians, and that roughly 1,300 of them had since returned to Ukraine, while 400 were placed in Russian orphanages and 358 in Russian foster homes, reported Reuters.
During her statement Lvova-Belova showed video of Ukrainian children in Russia, then said: “I want to stress that unlike the Ukrainian side, we don’t use children for propaganda.”
With inputs from agencies
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