During a recent visit by a delegation of African leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin made false statements regarding international rights and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Putin claimed that the international community supports Russia’s actions and that Ukraine initiated the war in 2014.
In reality, Russia violated international law when it invaded Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk in 2014, followed by a larger invasion of the entire country in 2022.
These actions were in direct contradiction to the principles of international law and the UN Charter.
Despite this, Putin argued that Russia’s support for proxy occupation zones, which it considers independent breakaway states, is justified based on international rights and the UN Charter.
However, this argument is flawed, as Russia’s attempts to annex these territories and conduct fake referendums in 2022 contradicted its own claims of recognizing their independence.
Furthermore, Putin defended Russia’s forcible abduction of Ukrainian children, claiming it was legal.
However, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian official involved in these abductions.
Since February 2022, approximately 19,500 Ukrainian children have been taken from the occupied territories and transported to other Russian-controlled areas or Russia, as documented in the Ukrainian national database.
The delegation, consisting of leaders from South Africa, Senegal, the Comoros Islands, Zambia, and Egypt, visited Kyiv on June 16 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Subsequently, they traveled to St. Petersburg to discuss a potential peace plan between Ukraine and Russia. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Zelensky, revealed that the African leaders’ plan primarily aimed to suspend Putin’s arrest warrant as a gesture of trust.
Zelensky criticized the African leaders for downplaying the full-scale invasion as a mere “crisis” or “conflict.” He believed that using such terminology minimized the severity and gravity of the situation in Ukraine.
