UN chief and Western nations berate Russia’s top diplomat over Ukraine

By Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his country’s military action and accusing the US and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the UN’s 193 member nations the organization’s “beating heart” and “guiding vision,” and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.

Tensions between major powers are at a “historic high” and so are the risks of conflict “through misadventure or miscalculation,” he said, pointing first and foremost to the war in Ukraine.

The UN secretary-general and the ambassadors of the US, Britain, France and their allies all pointed to the UN Charter’s underlying principle requiring all countries to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every nation— which Russia violated by invading its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and illegally annexing several regions.

Russia convened the ministerial meeting on making “multilateralism”—when countries work together—more effective

China’s deepening selloff shows investors are losing confidence

ASELLOFF in Chinese equities is deepening as traders weigh a barrage of economic and geopolitical risks, with global funds accelerating their exodus.

The MSCI China Index lost as much as 2 percent Tuesday, heading for a sixth day of declines, which will be the longest losing run since October. Foreign investors were set to be net sellers of onshore China shares for a third straight session, while bond yields have dropped.

Traders continued to cite geopolitical tensions as a key deterrent even as the US plans last week to limit investments in key parts of China’s economy were of little surprise. While a consumption-driven recovery is taking hold— the economy grew at the fastest pace in a year in the first quarter and retail sales soared last month—the nation’s top leaders have highlighted risks to the rebound.

“Investors seem to be having concerns about the sustainability of the recovery in China and the heightening of geopolitical tensions,” said Redmond Wong, strategist at Saxo Capital Markets HK Ltd. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong has lost more than 5 percent this month to be the second-worst performer among more than 90 global equity gauges tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a far cry from earlier this year. The measure was among the world’s top performers in January amid an extended rally following the nation’s reopening from Covid-19 curbs late last year.

Overseas funds sold a net $754 million worth of onshore China stocks via trading links with

Hong Kong on Tuesday, adding to an outflow of about $1.7 billion in the previous two sessions. Meanwhile, investors have sought refuge in sovereign bonds, with the 10-year yield falling for three days on the interbank market to Monday.

Investors ‘frustrated’

THE April meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo, the nation’s top decision-making body, is expected to turn its policy focus to boosting business confidence and increasing jobs without adding extra stimulus. The People’s Bank of China has already signaled it will begin dialing back the pandemic stimulus.

“European investors that we met last week are frustrated with the sluggish performance of the China markets, similar to HK/ China investors,” Bank of America Corp. strategists including Winnie Wu wrote in a Monday note. However, given geopolitical tensions, people are unsure about the long term, and are reluctant to “buy and wait,” they added.

Investors are also questioning the accuracy of the macro data as corporate earnings and guidance remain soft, the note said.

Tech and pharma stocks were the biggest losers on the HSCEI gauge on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid more than 3 percent.

The market is facing “a raft of negative geopolitical noises with little positive catalysts,” including Biden’s executive order to restrict investments and comments by the Chinese ambassador in France about ex-Soviet states, said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee/Bloomberg through the defense of the UN Charter, calling it the high point of its month-long presidency of the Security Council. It has been the most contentious presidency in the memory of longtime UN diplomats and officials, and Monday’s meeting added to the antagonism.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a “hypocritical convener” of the meeting whose “illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary” war in Ukraine “struck at the heart of the UN Charter and all that we hold dear.”

Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the world has seen “what Russia’s idea of multilateralism means for the world”— the trampling of the UN Charter and a war that has brought un - imaginable suffering to Ukraine and been “an unmitigated disaster for Russia, too.”

The 27-member European Union called Russia’s attempt to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism “cynical,” saying it is “in contempt” not only of the UN Charter but UN General Assembly resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces.

But Lavrov defended what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” reiterating accusations that Ukraine was promoting “Nazi practices” and banning the Russian language and culture, and Nato was planning to expand into Ukraine. He stressed, however, that “it’s not all about Ukraine” but what he called the West’s plans to leverage the Ukrainian government in the hope of weakening Russia. “We cannot consider the Ukrainian issue separately from the geopolitical context,” Lavrov said. “It’s about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus on the basis of balance of interests, or through aggressive and volatile advancement of Washington’s hegemony.”

Lavrov strongly criticized Nato members’ activities in the Western Pacific, specifically the alliance between Australia, Britain and the US, and also strengthening US ties with Japan, South Korea and a number of Southeast Asian countries.

Lavrov also accused the US Embassy in Moscow of blocking Russian journalists from accompanying him to New York by approving their visas only after his plane left.

The Russian minister stressed that multilateralism is a key part of the UN Charter and accused the United States and its allies of “destroying globalization” despite touting its benefits.

Lavrov said the West is promoting a “rules-based order” where nobody has seen the rules and which bars access to modern technologies and financial services to punish countries it disagrees with. The

West has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. Nobody allowed the Western minority to speak on behalf of all humankind,” he said.

Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador, told the council that Russia’s actions during the 14-month war show that the invasion of Ukraine isn’t an isolated incident.

“This does not just concern Ukraine or Europe,” she said. “It concerns all of us. Because today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation that is invaded by its larger neighbor.”

There were about 50 countries that spoke, and many pointed to the increasing confrontation among UN member nations. They stressed the importance of preserving multilateralism, including by reforming the Security Council to reflect the 21st century world instead of the post-World War II power structure.

“The world is standing at a historic crossroads now,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council. “Humanity is facing unprecedented global challenges. Acts of hegemony and bullying are causing colossal harm to the world. Politics are creating huge divisions and confrontations. It has become all the more urgent and important to uphold the UN Charter.”