Russian UN delegation leaves before Lithuanian President’s speech
The Russian delegation left the session of the UN General Assembly before the speech of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. Before her speech, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Pyotr Ilyichev and the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky left the hall. On Tuesday, Grybauskaite met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The press service of the Lithuanian president reported that during this meeting, she spoke about the “aggressive and offensive” nature of the Russian Zapad-2017 exercises near the Lithuanian border. She also expressed fears that the Russian-Belarusian military exercises threaten the security of the region.
Additionally, according to Grybauskaite, these exercises “model a real conflict with NATO countries.”
“The Kremlin is working out scenarios of an attack on its neighbors, attacks on the West,” TASS news aagency quoted her as saying.
The Lithuanian leader also stated that the UN response to cases of violation of international law in recent years has been “insufficient.”