A nasty fistfight and slap-fest broke out in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday between the representatives of Ukraine and Russia in the corridors of talks on UN-Black Sea cooperation. Video of the melee was posted on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian representative, Oleksandr Marikovsky, involved in the melee.
“Off our flag, paws to Ukraine…,” Marikovsky said in his post after the clash.
The incident occurred in the lobby when Valery Stavitsky, the Russian delegation’s secretary, grabbed a Ukrainian flag that was being held up for a photo op and Marikovsky took it back, punching and slapping the Russian in the process.
Paws away from our flag, paws away from Ukraine, Russian filth! PABSEC
Posted by Alexander Marikovsky on Thursday, May 4, 2023
Russian news agency TASS reported that the consul and a doctor came to the hotel to meet Stavitsky after the incident.
The video was verified by Serhiy Kislysias, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, who spoke to CBS News on Friday, asking whether Americans or any nation would tolerate their flag being taken down.
Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s first deputy ambassador to the United Nations, also confirmed the video and told CBS News “it was a peak of the whole day” over what he called Ukraine’s provocation during the meeting.
Earlier, members of the Ukrainian Parliament hung the Ukrainian flag on their table in front of Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop. It canceled and later condemned the “provocative and physically aggressive actions” of some representatives of Ukraine.
Both the Ukrainian and Russian UN ambassadors made it clear that the meeting at which the fighting took place was not part of the talks in Istanbul, Turkey, also taking place on Friday, which the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia are trying to defend. crop contract which is up for renewal on May 18.
The clash occurred as top UN trade representative Rebecca Greenspan arrived in Moscow over Russian complaints about the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN confirmed to CBS News on Friday morning.
Regarding the grain deal, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week sent letters to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offering to “expand” and “improve” the agreement, but he did not hear back. offer.
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