The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, has once again drawn a comparison between the situation in Kosovo and that in Ukraine.
Naturally, he consistently refers to both the state of Kosovo and Ukraine using the term “territorial integrity.”
The Russian diplomat, a close ally of Putin, directed several criticisms and suggestions to the cabinet of the UN Secretary-General.
He urged this institution to “read the Charter of this organization in its entirety and not just the parts it wants to emphasize in the context of the Ukrainian crisis regarding what he calls territorial integrity and the right of nations to self-determination,” as reported by Sputnik today.
At the International Symposium on Science Fiction “Building the Future,” Lavrov recalled that the West, with the full support of the UN Secretariat, seeks the “restoration of Ukraine” within the borders of 1991, referring to the principle of the UN Charter regarding the respect for the territorial integrity of states and a series of resolutions.
As an example of the inadequate interpretation of the UN Charter, Lavrov mentioned the situation in Kosovo.
“When Western countries declared Kosovo independent in 2008, no one debated this, and the International Court of Justice of the UN stated in its conclusion that if a part of a country unilaterally decides on its independence, the consent of the central authorities is not required at all,” Lavrov emphasized.
Lavrov stated that the UN Charter, before mentioning territorial integrity, includes the recognition of the right of nations to self-determination, which served as the basis for the largest process in recent history—the decolonization process.
