The United Nations’ 49th session of the Human Rights Council was held yesterday (1 March) in Geneva, Switzerland; the headquarters of the UN.
Ambassadors and diplomats were seen getting up from their seats and leaving by the masses just as Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was about to begin his address to the UN.
Lavrov appeared via a pre-recorded video as he spoke to the conference on the Disarmament and the Human Rights Council.
He was planning to attend the conference before the closure of the airspace to Russian airplanes and vehicles by many European countries, preventing his travel to Switzerland, which Lavrov describes as being “outrageous”.
Speaking on the mass walkout by the diplomats, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Bonnie Jenkins, describes it as strong support for Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Canada also reportedly joined the walkout and left the chamber as well, with almost nobody interested in what the Russian foreign minister had to say.
Walk out from the EU and its partners during the statement from Minister #Lavrov at the #ConferenceOnDisarmament this morning to show our support to Ukraine #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/q6Tq8bdd1D
— France-Désarmement 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@FR_Desarmement) March 1, 2022
Image source: Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament on Twitter @FR_Desarmement