The UK’s ambassador to the United Nations walked out of the room when Russia’s delegate was addressing its Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

Simon Manley joined dozens of other ambassadors in protesting Vladimir Putin’s representative’s speech during a session which was meant to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Manley, who walked out of the room as soon as the speech started, later explained that their actions came down to Kyiv’s exclusion from early peace talks between Russia and the US last week in Saudi Arabia.

According to Reuters, the delegate said: “Our support for Ukraine is iron-clad. We want to see a just and enduring peace in line with the UN charter. Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table.”

Speaking outside the room where Russia’s ambassador was speaking, France’s Jerome Bonnafont said: “If we let slide what happened with Ukraine without reacting...we would open the door to a disintegration of fundamental principles on which the UN was founded.”

The Washington delegate did not join those protesting because they had not turned up to the session at all, following US president Donald Trump’s decision to pull the States out of the Human Rights Council earlier this month. 

Speaking to those still in the room, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Vershinin bizarrely accused Ukraine of a “flagrant violation of fundamental human rights”.

“Securing human rights and freedoms is incompatible with double standards,” he added, claiming Kyiv was guilty of Russophobia. 

Actually, there is an international arrest warrant out for the Russian president over his alleged war crimes including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. 

Ukraine’s deputy foreign affairs minister Mariana Betsa then slammed Moscow for violating international law, adding: “The aggressor should be punished, aggression should not be rewarded.”

This incident comes after the US voted with Russia twice at the UN security council this week.

The States first voted against a European-drafted resolution condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine, joining Russia, North Korea and Belarus who opposed the resolution.

The States then put forward a different resolution which takes a neutral stance on the conflict, and includes no criticism of Russia.

Since his re-election, Trump has turned US policy towards Ukraine completely on its head.

While pushing for a quick end to the war, the US president is much more sympathetic towards Vladimir Putin than his predecessor Joe Biden.

He has signalled Ukraine may have to cede occupied territory to Russia in exchange for peace, while also blaming Kyiv for starting the war and falsely calling the country’s democratically elected president a dictator.

Meanwhile, prime minister Keir Starmer is in Washington DC today, trying to secure “security guarantees” from Trump for Europe – although Trump has already rejected the idea.