Add Category
The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CNN on Wednesday that Beijing is “uncomfortable” in supporting Russia in relation to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I can tell you that they're [China] uncomfortable in this position, and you will note that in most of the votes they abstained, they did not vote with Russia, they abstained,” Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview.
“While some abstentions were a disappointment, a China abstention was seen as an important message that China is not full bore on Russia’s side in this unconscionable war against Ukraine,” she added.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Russia to be removed as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and questioned whether the institution was fit for purpose.
“It is obvious that the key institution of the world designed to combat aggression and ensure peace cannot work effectively,” Zelensky said, addressing the council directly via videolink.
Speaking to Amanpour from her UN office in New York, Thomas-Greenfield said that she understood the Ukrainian leader’s frustration and acknowledged that the security council has been unable to stop the war. However, she said that the council should be “recognized” for isolating Russia.
“Their veto does not veto the ability for us to call them out. The fact that President Zelensky was able to speak to the security council with Russia sitting in the room and see that horrific film that he showed, shows the power of the council, that we are able to call them out, to condemn them, to isolate them before the world so they don't use this platform as a permanent member of the security council to press their propaganda,” the ambassador said.
“No one believes it. There were 14 countries speaking yesterday, all 14 countries called for Russia to cease this effort against Ukraine. So while we can't stop the war, we can make it very difficult for Russia to sit comfortably in this council and promote the lies and the propaganda,” she continued.
The ambassador said that Russia’s aggression has led to a united front among NATO countries and “a strong coalition of condemnation.”
“I don't think Russia is winning this propaganda war. They are succeeding inside their own country, and we have to make a greater effort to get information in to Russians themselves, so they know their young boys are dying, their bodies are being left in the streets, they are not being brought home. That's the message we have to get to the Russian people,” she told Amanpour.
Amanpour asked Thomas-Greenfield about the UN Security Council’s historic failures, and cited Srebrenica, a town that the security council had designated a “safe area” under UN protection before it fell to Bosnian Serb forces in 1995. When pressed on whether she thinks about these failures when addressing the issue of Ukraine, the US ambassador said that it goes through her mind “every single day.”
Thomas-Greenfield pointed to the fact that the US has this week called for a suspension of Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
“We cannot make any mistakes here, we have to keep pressure on Russia, we have to call out what they are doing,” she told CNN, adding that “We know that they are committing war crimes.”