LONDON, Feb. 13 -- The government of the United Kingdom issued text of the following speech:
Thank you President, and I thank ASG Jena for his briefing.
Colleagues, Russia has called this meeting in an attempt to distort history. Once again, the Russian delegation seeks to use this Council in a desperate effort to justify Russia's unprovoked, unnecessary and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Permanent Representative claimed that Putin's war was necessary to prevent conflict and alleviate suffering in the Donbas. That it was Ukraine and its partners who were responsible for undermining the Minsk agreements.
Members of this Council know better. It was Russia's aggression that killed the Minsk process. It was Putin who declared that...