Canada’s Mission to the United Nations on Thursday mocked a letter written by a Moscow diplomat denouncing a United Nations resolution that condemned Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
The letter was written by Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s United Nations representative, urging member states to ignore the proposed humanitarian resolution. Nebenzia’s letter further stated that Russia’s draft resolution, asking countries to respect their obligation under international humanitarian law, should be followed instead.
Canada’s Mission to the United Nations posted copies of this letter on Twitter after marking it up in red ink.
In the edited letter, Canada said Russia was the “primary cause” of war in Ukraine, “bombing schools and hospitals”, violating international law, and more.
Canada also added few suggestions in the letter’s margin.
“We [Russia] want you to know how little we care about the human life that we have destroyed in Ukraine, and how much disdain we have for you, the membership of the UN, and for this entire institution,” one of the suggestions read.
First Deputy Representative of Russia to the United Nations, Dmitry Poluanskiy, said that Canada’s marking up of the letter was a “kindergarten-level Russophobic libel”.
“It only shows that your diplomatic skills and good manners are at lowest ebb and gives an idea why your country’s bid for a non-permanent seat in [the] Security Council was voted down twice in 20 years by UN membership,” he wrote on twitter.
This is not the first time that Russia and Canada have engaged in a spat on Twitter.
In August 2014, after the Russian military crossed an unmarked portion of the Ukrainian border “by accident”, Canadian officials posted a
map on Twitter. It distinguished the territories of Ukraine and Moscow.
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