NEW YORK — The US delegation walked out of a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, in protest at comments made by France that compared Washington’s voting on human rights to that of authoritarian states.The US diplomats walked out of the Council meeting on Russia’s war against Ukraine as France’s delegation took the floor.The walkout came two days after an online exchange between US and French officials over Washington joined North Korea and Russia in voting against renewing the four-year term of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.After the vote on Friday, France’s UN Mission in Geneva wrote in a post on X on Saturday that the US was no longer a “beacon of human rights” and stood isolated alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia.In response, US ambassador Mike Waltz accused France of voting for a human rights chief who had been “lecturing” democratic countries while “cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors”, without elaborating on what he meant.Turk has criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s military conduct in Gaza.The US team’s walkout came while France’s ambassador Jerome Bonnafont was speaking during an emergency Security Council meeting on Russia’s war in Ukraine.US ambassador Dan Negrea said the delegation would continue to make similar protests until France “renounces their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric”.The fight over Turk’s second term, which was passed with 144 states in favour, 10 against and 13 abstentions, reflects tensions between Washington and the United Nations.The Trump administration has cut funding for UN agencies and withdrawn from dozens of its entities.On Friday, US ambassador Jeff Bartos criticized Turk’s reappointment and said “there will be consequences” to the assembly which “tolerates procedural overreach, backroom deals, and the misuse of UN posts”.”The United States will immediately reassess our engagement, participation, and funding,” he said.However, French ambassador Bonnafont described Turk as “a voice of conscience” who demonstrated “rigor and impartiality” during his first term.Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq declined to comment on the US walkout, adding the UN expected all member states to respect the decision.
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