- 'Stop the war' and Zelenskiy need not speak, UN Security Council chair tells Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was scheduled to make his first in-person appearance at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to Zelenskiy speaking at the beginning of the meeting. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was presiding over the session, responded with a sarcastic remark aimed at Moscow’s claim that the invasion was just a “special military operation.” Rama assured everyone that the Albanian presidency was not conducting a special operation and suggested that if Russia agreed to stop the war, Zelenskiy would not speak. Nebenzia refused to agree and criticized Rama for making politically charged statements instead of maintaining neutrality. Zelenskiy later expressed gratitude to Rama for handling Russia’s lies and hypocrisy effectively. Moscow has justified its invasion by claiming that Ukraine’s desire to integrate with the West poses a threat to Russia’s national security, a claim that Kyiv and its allies reject as baseless. When Zelenskiy finally had the opportunity to speak, he called for Russia to be stripped of its veto power in the U.N. Security Council as punishment for attacking Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended Moscow’s use of the veto, accusing Kyiv and the West of selectively following the principles of the U.N. Charter.