{O/C} A barrage of accusations enveloped the United Nations as the U.S. and Ukraine united against Russia.
While the U.S. accused Russia of its reign of terror, Russia's Foreign Minister fiercely defended the invasion.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken rallied world leaders to stifle Russia's ruthless war tactics in Ukraine.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State:
Leaders from countries developing and developed, big and small, north and south have spoken in the General Assembly about the consequences of this war and the need to end it.
These reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately.
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Blinken also capitalised on recent "sham" plebiscites in parts of Russian-controlled parts of eastern and southern Ukraine on whether to join Russia.
Western nations have denounced the votes as illegitimate and non-binding.
Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, picked a fight with the U.S. by trotting out the rationale behind Russia's horrendous war.
While conveniently papering over the nuclear threats made by the Kremlin, he dished it right back and called the U.S. remarks unfair.
Lavrov also said it was Kyiv that sparked the war by oppressing Russian speakers in Ukraine's east, and that Western support for Ukraine was menacing.
But Ukraine's Foreign Affairs minister insinuated that was an excuse.
{Soundbite}
DMYTRO KULEBA, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:
The amount of lies coming from Russian diplomats is quite extraordinary.
Russian diplomats are directly complicit because their lies incite these crimes and cover them up.
{VO}
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the council it's his and President's Xi Jinping's hope that cooler heads prevail.
This as the International Criminal Court has initiated a probe into possible Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
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