ISTANBUL 

Russia said Tuesday that the latest UN Security Council meeting was reduced to “demagogy” aimed at discrediting it and other countries resisting Western “neo-colonial ambitions.”

“On April 10, the UN Headquarters in New York hosted the first central event under the Russian chairmanship of the Security Council of the world organization, namely an open debate on the risks posed by the violation of obligations for interstate deliveries of military and dual-use products,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement released by the ministry.

Zakharova said discussions in this regard were followed by “anti-Russian attacks” and “sweeping accusations” over the war in Ukraine by Western permanent members of the council, which she said they made with the support of their allies.

“Contrary to the constructive mood of the majority of the members of the Security Council and the delegations of other UN member states that joined the discussion, the discussion that had begun in a substantive and quite professional manner was reduced to irresponsible political demagogy aimed at further discrediting the Russian Federation and other states that are still able to resist neo-colonial ambitions of the ‘collective West,’” she said.

Russia, one of the five permanent members of the 15-member UN Security Council with veto powers, assumed the rotating presidency of the UN body on April 1 amid anger and criticism from Ukraine and its allies.

*Betul Yuruk in New York contributed to this story​​​​​​​