Ireland strongly criticises Russia for ‘disinformation’ campaign

Ireland has strongly criticised Russia at the UN Security Council for seeking to excuse its unlawful and unjustifiable attack on Ukraine by making "unsubstantiated and unfounded" claims that the country was seeking to develop biological and chemical weapons.

Ireland also accused Russian forces of showing “reckless disregard for nuclear safety and security” since they attacked Ukraine last month.

Irish Ambassador to the UN Geraldine Byrne Nason said Russia had sought the meeting of the security council on Friday "for no other reason than to advance baseless claims against Ukraine and the United States".

She urged Russia not to use the security council “as a platform to spread disinformation”.

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She also said Russia had sought to mislead the security council about what was happening in Ukraine.

Ms Byrne Nason said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had created a humanitarian catastrophe causing suffering for millions of people. She said "in another effort to mislead and misinform, we have been told by the Russian Federation that the humanitarian crisis we are seeing in Ukraine is not a result of its actions".

Whatever was agreed, or not agreed, on humanitarian safe passage, she said that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected

“Compliance with international humanitarian law is not optional. It is an obligation.”

‘Unjustifiable aggression’

The ambassador said Ireland urged the Russian Federation to immediately cease hostilities, unconditionally withdraw from the entire territory of Ukraine and refrain from further threat or use of force of any kind against the country.

“It is beyond time to choose dialogue and diplomacy as the pathway to resolve this conflict.

“It is intolerable that Russia, as part of its attempts to excuse its unjustifiable and unlawful aggression against Ukraine, is making unsubstantiated and unfounded claims against Ukraine regarding the alleged development and possible use of biological and chemical weapons.

“The prohibitions on biological and chemical weapons must not be undermined.”

“Given the reckless disregard for nuclear safety and security shown by Russian forces since the start of the invasion, there are fears for CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear] safety arising from the invasion. This in no way, however, supports the claims of weapons of mass destruction development in Ukraine.

“We are familiar with this approach by the Russian Federation. It forms part of a long-standing pattern by the Russian Federation to use disinformation, in multiple multilateral fora, to distract, deny, and cover up its own transgressions and aggressions.”