As Russia addresses the UN Human Rights Council, dozens of delegates leave

In solidarity of Ukraine, dozens of dignitaries left Russia’s speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

To commemorate three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the delegates—among them the ambassadors of France, Germany, and Britain—gathered outside the chamber where the session was being held.

“We are unwavering in our support for Ukraine. Simon Manley, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations and World Trade Organization, told Reuters, “We want to see a just and lasting peace in accordance with the U.N. charter and with international law.”

“Without Ukraine, peace is impossible. Manley left the address as it began, saying, “Ukraine must be at the negotiating table.”

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to resign from the Human Rights Council, the sole intergovernmental body that upholds human rights, Washington left its seat at the council unfilled.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Vershinin, accused Ukraine of a “flagrant violation of fundamental human rights” in his address to the council, claiming that it discriminates against Russians within Ukraine and engages in Russophobia.

“Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” Vershinin stated.

Trump’s reversal of U.S. policy on Ukraine and his more accommodative stance toward Russia is reflected in the dozens of nations that gathered Tuesday at the United Nations in Geneva to support Ukraine, one day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that adopts a neutral stance on the conflict.

The purpose of the gathering was to honor “resistance to the Russian aggression” after the resolution was adopted in New York.