The UN Security Council, at the initiative of Britain, which holds the rotating presidency of the council for November, met yesterday to condemn Russia for its alleged 1,000 days of “aggression” in Ukraine. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who personally delivered the British statement in New York, solemnly declared that “the U.K. is keeping the spotlight on Ukraine” in defense of something every nation should care about: “The right to be a sovereign, independent country free to choose its future, protect its borders and stand up to aggression. …”
Lammy went on: “Unless Putin fails, we could plunge into a world where the principles enshrined in the UN Charter will have lost their meaning. Unless Putin fails, others will be inspired to wage imperialist wars of conquest. Unless Putin fails, our faith in international law may never return. And unless Putin fails, each of our borders will be less safe.” Britain, he stressed, is fully committed to seeing that Putin fails.
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia replied by pointing out the hypocrisy of Britain lecturing anyone on morality, given its deep and corrupt involvement in the war in Ukraine. “As a matter of fact, those who are familiar with the history of the United Kingdom are not a bit surprised at U.K.’s long-standing intervention in Ukraine which culminated in the actions we have mentioned before. After all, pitting neighbors against each other, sowing discord between nations and peoples, and then supporting one of the sides of artificially created conflicts is something the United Kingdom has relished to do for centuries, and is really good at—all your former colonies can tell you about it in colorful detail. By the way, out of the 193 UN members, only 22 states can boast that they have never been invaded by Great Britain or waged war with this country.”
Nebenzia summarized the 250 years’ history of British Imperial brutality, citing, among other things, the ethnic cleansing of Ireland, the setting up of concentration camps during the Boer War (Oct 11, 1899-May 31, 1902), and the huge toll of famines in India during British Empire’s rule there. Not least, of course, he detailed the fact that the war had lasted 1,000 days, because “Last Friday, November 15, marked exactly 950 days since the visit of former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Kiev. That day—and we all know it for a fact today—he dissuaded the head of the Kiev regime from signing the peace agreement with Russia that had already been initialed in Istanbul, which would have stopped hostilities.”
Nebenzia concluded his remarks: “The consequences of the actions of former colonizers resonate in the modern world even today. Even though colonial empires are formally a thing of the past, the old methods—pressure, manipulation and interference in sovereign affairs—are still being used and simply have new forms.
