The involvement of the United States and NATO in the war in Ukraine risks bringing “catastrophic consequences”, Russia was warned in a boycott speech by many Western diplomats.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that “the most acute strategic threat today is posed by US and NATO policies aimed at further conflict in and around Ukraine.”
“The growing involvement in armed confrontation is fraught with direct military clashes with nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences.”
Ryabkov spoke before the room was generally empty, with many Western diplomats mainly opting for a symbolic gathering of close photo opportunities in front of the mural painted in blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag during the scheduled speaking time.
However, he did not make the grand march that greeted his leader, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, when his video address was played before the Disarmament Conference a year ago.
“We consider this an extraordinary show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people who resist Russia’s unwanted and unjust aggression,” Ukraine’s ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko told AFP.
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“Until Russia takes its tanks out of the Ukrainian field… we are here to show support to our Ukrainian colleagues,” British Ambassador Simon Manley said.
“His fight is our fight.”
– ‘Unstable drama’ –
The Conference on Disarmament, or CD, is the world’s foremost multilateral disarmament forum. It was created in 1979 to try to prevent the Cold War arms race.
The CD is not a UN body but meets at UN headquarters in Geneva for three sessions a year to discuss arms control and disarmament, with a focus on controlling the nuclear arms race.
But the statements posted there have grown more aggressive since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
While opening the CD session on Friday, US secretary of state for arms control and international security Bonnie Jenkins criticized the suspension of Russia’s participation in New START, the last nuclear arms control pact between Moscow and Washington.
“Russia has once again shown the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power,” he said, warning that “we are now facing an unstable security environment that pulls us away from collective action here.”
Ryabkov stressed Thursday that Russia has no choice but to suspend its participation in the agreement, because “a total hybrid war (is being launched) against us.”
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“At the same time, as already mentioned, we will continue to comply with quantitative limits on strategic offensive weapons,” he told the CD.
Ryabkov is also expected to address the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday.
Inquiry into Russian actions
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a video address to the council on Thursday morning, stressing the need to extend the high-level war crimes investigation, called the Commission of Inquiry, into Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“As long as Russia continues to wage war, the COI must continue to document these abuses, provide an impartial record of what happened, and serve as the basis for national and international efforts to hold perpetrators accountable,” he said.
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He also said that the council decided to appoint an expert to monitor rights violations in Russia.
“Governments that commit atrocities abroad will also violate people’s rights at home, and that’s exactly what Russia is doing.”