Ukraine slams Russia for 'amount of lies' at UNSC; 'You'll never win this war'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba lashed out at his Russian counterpart in the United Nations security council Wednesday. "The amount of lies coming from the Russian diplomats is quite extraordinary, Kuleba told the council. "The only thing in today's address by Russia in this torrent of lies worthy of reaction is the inappropriate slang used when mentioning a president of a foreign country, the president of Ukraine." Kuleba's comments followed Sergey Lavrov's comments in which called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a slur.

Kuleba then mentioned Lavrov's quick departure from the chamber. "I also noted today that Russian diplomats flee almost as aptly as Russian soldiers," Kuleba said. Kuleba then criticized Russia's invasion and said Russia's call up of 300,000 troops was a sign of defeat. "You can draft 300,000-500,000 people, but you will never win this war," Kuleba said.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on every UN Security Council member to “send a clear message” to Russia that it must stop its nuclear threats in the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that his nuclear-armed country “certainly use all means available to us” if its territory is threatened and to defend the country and its people. Blinken used a council session Thursday to criticize Russia’s invasion and press other countries to join in their forceful condemnations of the conflict.

“Every council member should send a clear message that these reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately,” he said.

A day after President Joe Biden assailed Russian leader Vladimir Putin for what he called egregious violations of the U.N. Charter and international law, the U.S. made the case at the U.N. Security Council that Russia should face further censure and isolation for its invasion. Blinken listed several allegations of war crimes and other atrocities and called on countries that have yet to speak out forcefully against them as an affront to international order.