Russia’s ambassador to the UN Security Council, Wesley Nebenzia, disliked European Council President Charles Mitchell’s remarks and walked out.
At a meeting on Monday, European Council President Charles Mitchell accused Moscow of aggravating the global food crisis by invading Ukraine, according to Reuters.
According to the report, Charles Mitchell also accused Russia of committing war crimes against its military, citing reports of sexual violence.
The theme of the Security Council meeting was “Tactics of Violence, Terrorism and Repression.”
At the start of the meeting, Russian envoy Nebenzia categorically denied allegations of sexual harassment by Russian soldiers, saying “this is a lie.”
“I can no longer stay here because of the lies that Charles Mitchell has come to share,” an angry Russian envoy told Reuters after leaving the meeting.
According to the report, as the Russian delegation was leaving the meeting, Charles Mitchell addressed them directly and said, “You can leave this meeting because it is easier to hear the truth anyway.”
The food crisis has intensified since Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine as prices of wheat, cooking oil and fertilizer have risen.
Russia and Ukraine supply a third of the world’s wheat, while Russia is also a major exporter of fertilizer and Ukraine is a major exporter of corn oil and sunflower oil.
At the Security Council meeting, Charles Mitchell, President of the European Council, said: “The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, to be honest, the Kremlin is using food and beverages as a stealth missile against developing countries.”
“Russia is responsible for the global food crisis,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is trying to resume food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is visiting Turkey on Wednesday to discuss resumption of grain exports from Ukraine.