UN representatives leave room while Russian minister gives message

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has asked the US government on Tuesday to withdraw its nuclear weapons from Europe and has clarified that “it is about time”, at the same time that he has described as “unacceptable” the presence of them.

“It is unacceptable to us that, contrary to the fundamental provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, American nuclear weapons are still located on the territory of several European countries. (…) It is high time that American nuclear weapons were withdrawn and the associated infrastructure in Europe is completely dismantled,” Lavrov said during his address to the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva.

For Lavrov, this situation poses a threat of nuclear attack against Russia and violates the treaty reached between the parties, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.

In this sense, he clarified that Moscow is doing everything possible to prevent Ukraine from possessing this type of weapon and has expressed Russia’s “commitment” to its obligations of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Lavrov was scheduled to attend the conference in person but has been unable to fly due to the European Union’s ban on Russian flights in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

During his speech, representatives of more than 50 countries have left the session in a clear sign of boycott, as reported by Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kislitsia. “Enough of exposing the madness of war criminals. We will listen to you at the International Criminal Court to address war crimes,” he said.

For her part, the British Foreign Minister, Liz Truss, has confirmed this information and has accused Lavrov of filling his speech with “misinformation”. “It does not deserve the attention of the UN Human Rights Council”, she has said before clarifying that “Russia is isolated and should feel ashamed to sit in the chamber”.

However, Lavrov has gone ahead and stressed the importance of the international community not building military installations in countries of the former Soviet Union and has offered a new justification for the invasion: preventing Ukraine from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“Today, the damage that (Volodimir) Zelenski supposes for neighboring countries and international security is even greater if we talk about the acquisition of nuclear weapons,” he lamented.

Lavrov has pointed out that these types of comments are “irresponsible” and pose a real danger given that Ukraine “possesses Soviet nuclear technology and could develop this type of weapon.” “We can’t ignore it,” he has said.

However, he has defended that Russia is willing to continue working with the United States to “develop new agreements on strategic stability” under the pre-existing agreements and through an “exhaustive” dialogue.

In addition, he has urged Washington and its allies to adhere to their obligations on security issues and has asked the international community to show “readiness to offer Russia legitimate and lasting security guarantees.”