EU, US, British envoys boycott Lavrov speech at UN rights forum

FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference following talks with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in Moscow, Russia February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Pool

GENEVA (Reuters) - Dozens of diplomats from the European Union (EU), United States and Britain walked out of a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the top U.N. human rights forum on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness.

Lavrov was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council remotely, having cancelled his attendance earlier due to what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path.