Russia on Monday defended itself against a barrage of criticism over its presidency of the Security Council in April, saying it would not abuse its position, AFP reported.

“Russia does not abuse the prerogatives of the president. There is a national position, on the one hand, and the role of the chairmanship in the Council – on the other,” Russian Ambassador Vasyl Nebenzia said at a press conference dedicated to the beginning of each rotating chairmanship in the Council.

Russia assumed the presidency of the council on Saturday under rules that change the chair every month in alphabetical order of permanent and non-permanent members.

This drew criticism from Ukraine, which called it a “slap to the international community,” and its allies.

“As you know, since April 1, Russia has chaired the Security Council. It’s like the first of April,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the press on Monday.

“The truth is, it’s a swivel chair. We expect professional behavior from them,” she admitted.

“But we also expect that they will use their position to spread disinformation and promote their own agenda regarding Ukraine, and we are ready to point the finger when they try to do that,” she also said.

Ukraine and the West have been condemning Russian “propaganda” against Ukraine for months.

Thus, this position “corresponds to the Western narrative,” complained Vasyl Nebenzya, accusing Kyiv’s allies of “spreading misinformation,” especially “about the situation of Ukrainian children who were allegedly kidnapped in Ukraine and taken to Russia against their will.”

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes for the “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children during the Russian invasion. A “stupid” and “illegitimate” decision, insisted the Russian ambassador, who is organizing an informal meeting on this topic at the UN on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the Security Council provides certain agenda-setting prerogatives. But as a permanent member, Russia already has the ability to call emergency meetings when it requires them.

In addition, the presiding country usually organizes two or three specific meetings on selected topics.

One of them, on April 24, will be chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Serhiy Lavrov, on the topic of “protection of the principles of the UN Charter.”

“Russia is not in a position to speak about international law or the values ​​of the United Nations,” British Deputy Ambassador James Kariuki said of Monday’s event.

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