NEW YORK CITY: The very foundations of the international legal order, strategic stability and the UN-centric system of global politics are being put to the test, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.
It will be “impossible” to resolve the conflicts that are multiplying around the world without getting to their root causes and restoring faith in the ability of nations to join forces in pursuit of the common good and justice for all, he added.
Sergey Lavrov accused the US and its allies of impeding international cooperation and efforts to build “a more just world.”
He added: “They’re taking entire countries and regions as hostages (and) distracting from the necessary joint efforts to regulate conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and other regions, in reducing global inequality, eliminating terrorism, drug trafficking and famine.”
As he chaired a signature meeting of the Security Council, of which Russia holds the rotating presidency this month, Lavrov said: “Not all states represented in this room recognize the key principle of the UN charter of the sovereign equality of all states.
“The United States has long, through the words of its presidents, declared its own exceptionalism. This also ties to Washington’s attitude toward its allies, from whom it demands unquestioning obedience, even to the detriment of their national interests.
“Rule America: That is the essence of the notorious rule-based order, which is a direct threat to multilateralism and international law.”
The high-level open debate, attended by more than 50 states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, was titled “Multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order.”
Lavrov accused Western countries of interpreting the UN Charter in a “perverse and selective manner depending on what instructions are handed down from the White House.”
He added: “The sabotage of resolutions on the Middle East can be discussed endlessly. Everyone remembers the statement of the US permanent representative regarding the fact that Resolution 2728 of March 25, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, was not legally binding.
“In other words, these American rules are more important than Article 25 of the UN Charter.”
Quoting George Orwell’s allegorical novel “Animal Farm,” Lavrov said: “‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.’ If you fulfill and obey the will of the hegemon, you’re permitted to do anything you wish. But if you dare defend your national interests, you will be declared a pariah and sanctioned.
“Washington’s hegemonic policy has not changed for decades. Every Euro-Atlantic security arrangement, without exception, has been based on ensuring US dominance. This has included the subjugation of Europe and the containment of Russia.”
Lavrov accused NATO of subjugating the EU, and blamed the crisis in Ukraine — and what he described as the “coup d’etat” of 2014, referencing the protests in the country a decade ago that
culminated in the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych after he rejected closer integration with the EU — on the “reckless expansion” of the military alliance.
He urged “all those genuinely interested in overcoming the Ukrainian crisis to take into account in their proposals the key issue of the rights of Russians and other national minorities. Silencing it devalues peace initiatives.”
Lavrov said that the West’s “illegal sanctions, multiple protection measures (and) restrictions in access to leading technologies are contrary to true multilateralism, and create serious obstacles to achieving the (UN’s) 2030 agenda” for sustainable development.
He accused Washington of “jettisoning” developing countries, the attributes of a free market economy, fair competition, the inviolability of the practice of private property, the presumption of innocence, and the free movement of people, goods and capital.
“Geopolitics have buried the once-sacred laws of the market for the West,” Lavrov added.
He called for reform of the multilateral system, including changes to the structure of the Security Council, in which he said “there’s a clear overrepresentation of the countries of the collective West,” to eliminate geographic imbalances and enhance the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Lavrov also advocated changes to the staffing policy of the UN Secretariat, the organization’s executive branch, “to eliminate the overrepresentation of nationals of the West.” The UN secretary-general’s “staff must adhere strictly to the principles of impartiality and neutrality,” he added.
The US representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, responded by saying she thought she was “in the wrong room, because this seemed to be a session whining about the United States and the West and I hardly heard the word multilateralism mentioned.”
She accused Russia of eroding confidence in global institutions, and violating the core tenets of the UN Charter, including territorial integrity, respect for human rights, and international cooperation.
She criticized Moscow for hosting a meeting to discuss the ideals of the UN while “actively engaged in a war of aggression against its neighbor. A war that has weaponized food, worsening food insecurity not only for Ukrainians but for tens of millions of hungry people around the world.
“A war that has killed thousands of innocent people, including dozens just last week at a pediatric hospital in Kyiv. A war that has facilitated the unlawful transfer of thousands upon thousands of people from their homes, including children. And a war that has caused Moscow to resort to nuclear brinkmanship and to violate international sanctions obligations.”
Thomas-Greenfield conceded that the UN is not perfect, as it “reflects a deeply imperfect world, one filled with conflict and contradiction. We need an effective United Nations to tackle the kind of borderless challenges that affect us all.”
She said her country is committed to “modernizing and strengthening” the UN to better reflect the priorities of all member states, including developing countries. This commitment, she added, includes working with multilateral development banks to address the economic barriers to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the championing of efforts to reform the Security Council itself, to ensure it incorporates geographically diverse perspectives, including permanent representation of the Global South.
She pledged US commitment to international treaties and conventions, including international humanitarian law and World Trade Organization rules “not, as my Russian counterpart might argue, to keep other nations down but rather to help them build up to ensure that everyone plays
by the rules, and that the rules are fair to everyone, including the developing nations that have for far too long been used and abused by Russia.”
Russia, US accuse each other at UN Security Council meeting of sabotaging world order
https://arab.news/5dtmf
Russia, US accuse each other at UN Security Council meeting of sabotaging world order

- Russian foreign minister says US ‘has long, through the words of its presidents, declared its own exceptionalism’ and ‘demands unquestioning obedience’ from allies
- US condemns Russia for hosting a meeting to discuss the ideals of the UN while ‘actively engaged in a war of aggression against its neighbor’
Harvard sues Trump over block on foreign students

- “It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights,” said the lawsuit
NEW YORK: Harvard sued the Trump administration on Friday over its move to block the prestigious university from enrolling and hosting foreign students in a broadening dispute, a court filing showed.
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” said the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.
Greek court charges 17 coast guard officers over 2023 migrant shipwreck, say sources

- The 17 coast guard officers would be summoned by a judge to respond to accusations
- A Greek coast guard official said the service had not been officially informed about the charges
ATHENS: A Greek naval court has charged 17 coast guard officers over one of the Mediterranean’s worst shipwrecks two years ago, in which hundreds of people are believed to have drowned, three sources said on Friday.
The shipwreck of an overloaded migrant boat in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos on June 14, 2023, sent shockwaves across Europe and beyond. The naval court is still investigating the circumstances around the incident.
A coast guard vessel had been monitoring the boat, named Adriana, for 15 hours before it capsized and sank. It had left Libya for Italy with about 750 people on board. Only 104 of them are known to have survived.
Greek coast guard authorities have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the case.
Three legal sources said the 17 coast guard officers would be summoned by a judge to respond to accusations ranging from obstructing transport to causing or helping cause a shipwreck.
Contacted by Reuters, a Greek coast guard official said the service had not been officially informed about the charges and had asked to be briefed by the naval court.
Greece’s judicial system has several preparatory stages and the compilation of charges does not necessarily mean that an individual will face trial.
Human rights activists and other protesters plan rallies across Greece on June 21 to mark the second anniversary of the Pylos shipwreck.
In February, the Greek Ombudsman recommended disciplinary action against eight coast guard officers, the first national probe into the incident to conclude.
Greece says that the coast guard operates with respect to human rights and that it has rescued more than 250,000 people since 2015, when the country was at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis.
Trump announces Kyiv-Moscow mass prisoner swap

- Kyiv and Moscow are due to swap 1,000 people each in a deal agreed at talks in Istanbul
- Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the swap had been “completed,” but an official said the exchange was ongoing
KYIV: US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a “major” prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine, which would be the largest in three years of war.
Kyiv and Moscow are due to swap 1,000 people each in a deal agreed at talks in Istanbul last week, but a senior official with knowledge of the matter said the exchange had not yet happened.
Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have thus far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.
The warring countries have held regular exchanges since Russia launched its 2022 invasion — but none have been of this scale.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the swap had been “completed,” but an official said the exchange — usually kept secret until it is finished and taking several hours — was ongoing.
“The process is ongoing and the exchange itself has not yet taken place,” the senior official with knowledge of the matter told AFP.
Trump also said: “This could lead to something big???“
After 39 months of fighting, thousands of POWs are held in both countries.
Russia is believed to have the larger share, with the number of Ukrainian captives held by Moscow estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000.
Kyiv and Moscow have both accused each other of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs, with the UN saying prisoners on both sides have been “subjected to torture and ill-treatment.”
Russia regularly violates international norms by putting POWs on trial — with allegations of torture widespread and several Ukrainian captives confirmed to have died in custody.
Moscow’s forces are also believed to have taken an unknown number of Ukrainian civilians into Russia in three years of seizing Ukrainian towns and cities.
There have been several high-profile cases of Ukrainian civilian captives.
Moscow this year returned the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in captivity.
Ukrainians put on trial have told Russian courts they experienced and witnessed torture in Russia’s notorious prison system.
Kyiv’s Commissioner for Missing Persons, Artur Dobroserdov, told Ukrainian media last month:
“There are more than 60,000 people missing. Around 10,000 are confirmed to be in captivity.”
With Kyiv not knowing the fate of thousands, each exchange bring surprises, a senior official told AFP.
“Almost every exchange includes people no one had knowledge about,” he said.
“Sometimes they return people who were on the lists of missing persons or were considered dead.”
A sizeable part of Ukrainian troops held in Russia were taken captive during the 2022 siege of Mariupol.
Aside from the thousands held since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, Russia also has held some Ukrainians since its 2014 Crimea annexation.
The number of Russian POWs in Ukraine is believed to be considerably smaller.
Zelensky has throughout the war encouraged the taking of Russian troops as prisoners to fill up what he calls Kyiv’s “exchange fund” for future swaps.
Ukraine took hundreds of Russian troops captive during Kyiv’s incursion into the Kursk region in 2024.
It has since also said it took some North Korean soldiers captive who fought for Russia in Kursk.
Kyiv has also jailed a growing number of people for allegedly collaborating with Russian forces and there is speculation that some of these could be included in future swaps.
Last year, a Ukrainian Orthodox priest jailed for justifying Russia’s aggression was included in a prisoner swap with Russia.
Russia said in early May that a group of its civilians from the Kursk region that were taken to Ukraine’s Sumy were still there.
Until the Turkiye talks, the only communication channels open between the warring neighbors in three years were on exchanges of prisoners and soldiers’ bodies as well as on the return of children taken into Russia during Moscow’s invasion.
Indonesian pilgrims embark on Hajj journey under Makkah Route expansion

- Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative is facilitating travel for pilgrims in Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo
- Over 125,000 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday
JAKARTA: More than 120,000 Indonesian pilgrims are benefiting from the Makkah Route initiative this year, as they embark on Hajj after the flagship Saudi program was expanded to three cities across the country.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, sends the largest Hajj contingent of pilgrims every year to perform the spiritual journey that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
In 2025, Saudi Arabia granted Indonesia a quota of 221,000 pilgrims. With the Hajj expected to take place on June 4 and end on June 9, special pilgrimage flights from Indonesia started on May 2.
Over half of the pilgrims are departing under the pre-travel program, which was launched by the Kingdom in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at their airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in the Kingdom.
“In Indonesia, Makkah Route is implemented in three airports, Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta, and then in the cities of Solo and Surabaya,” Mohammed Zain, director of domestic Hajj services at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Arab News.
The initiative was only expanded in 2024 to reach more Indonesian pilgrims in different parts of the country.
This year, a total of 122,156 Indonesian pilgrims, who are departing from the three selected cities, are benefiting from the program.
“This is very helpful in sorting all of the pilgrims’ document requirements, like visa and passport, so that when the pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia, they simply head to their buses and go on their spiritual journey safely and comfortably,” Zain said.
“We hope that for Hajj next year, the Makkah Route initiative will be further expanded in Indonesia, so that we can offer more high-quality Hajj service.”
In Jakarta, the program is implemented at the new Hajj and Umrah terminal in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which was inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto earlier this month.
Over 125,000 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom as of Tuesday.
Indonesia is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.
Rescue efforts underway for 260 workers trapped in a South African gold mine

JOHANNESBURG: Rescue efforts are underway in South Africa to bring 260 workers trapped in a gold mine for a day back to the surface, the Sibanye Stillwater mining company said on Friday.
According to the company, an initial investigation showed that a sub-shaft rock winder skip door opened at the loading point and caused some damage to the mineshaft at the Kloof mine, west of Johannesburg.
“Following a detailed risk assessment, it was decided that employees should remain at the sub-shaft station until it is safe to proceed to the surface, in order to avoid walking long distances at this time,” the company said in a statement.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which represents workers at the Kloof mine, said the miners have been trapped for almost 24 hours, with the company repeatedly changing the estimated time for them to return to the surface.
“We are very concerned because the mine did not even make this incident public until we reported it to the media,” said NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu.
The company said all miners were accounted for and safe, adding that it expected to hoist them back to the surface on Friday.