Canada sends back Russian envoy's letter with corrections, asks latter to respect Charter

In a key development, Canada's UN Mission on Thursday, March 17, ridiculed a Russian diplomat by marking up the envoy's letter censuring a UN resolution that condemned the Russian troops' atrocities on civilians in Ukraine. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's UN representative encouraged member states to reject a proposed humanitarian resolution in response to Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and instead approve Kremlin's own draft resolution.

However, Canada's UN representative instead chose to release copies of the letter on Twitter, with red ink edits. Canada blamed Russia for being the 'main cause' of the crisis in Ukraine, by bombing schools and hospitals, breaking international law, and more in the edited letter.

"Thank you [Russia] for your letter dated March 16. Please see our suggested edits below," Canada shared a Tweet alongside a copy of the letter that had been edited.

"We want you to know just how little we care about the human life that we have destroyed in Ukraine, and how much disdain we have for you, the membership of the UN, and for this entire institution," Canada stated at the end of the letter, ridiculing Russia for its continuous bombardment of infrastructure across Ukraine.

Russia's response to Canadian envoy's tweet

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, took to Twitter to mock Canada for not being a member of the Security Council for more than two decades. At the conclusion of his tweet, Polyanskiy added a thumbs-down emoji. It is pertinent to mention here that back in 2000, Canada was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the last time.

Polyanskiy took to Twitter and wrote, "Thank you @CanadaONU for this kindergarten-level Russophobic libel! It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb and gives an idea why your country’s bid for a non-permanent seat in #SecurityCouncil was voted down twice in 20yrs by UN membership."

Russia-Ukraine War

According to recent media reports, at least three explosions were heard in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Friday morning, with the local mayor claiming that Russian missiles struck an area near Lviv's airport. The death toll has climbed as a result of Russian bombardment, with a US citizen being one of the most recent deaths.

Image: AP