US Walks Out of UN Security Council During France's Remarks
The US delegation left a Security Council meeting in protest after France compared Washington's human rights voting record to that of North Korea and Russia.
The United States delegation walked out of a UN Security Council meeting in protest at comments from France comparing Washington's voting on human rights to that of authoritarian states, the BBC reported.
The walkout took place while France's ambassador Jerome Bonnafont was speaking during an emergency Security Council session on Russia's war in Ukraine.
How the row began
The dispute started the previous week, when the US joined North Korea and Russia in voting against extending Volker Turk's term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
After the vote, France's UN mission criticised the US directly. "The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore," it posted on X, drawing the comparison with Pyongyang and Moscow.
US ambassador Mike Waltz responded by accusing France of backing a human rights chief who had been "lecturing" democratic countries while "cozying up to the world's worst oppressors", without specifying what he meant. Turk has been critical of both Russia's war in Ukraine and Israel's military conduct in Gaza.
A protest set to continue
US ambassador Dan Negrea said the delegation would keep staging similar protests until France "renounces their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric".
Turk's second term was approved with 144 states in favour, 10 against and 13 abstentions — a margin that left the US firmly in the minority.
Part of a wider breach
The episode fits a broader deterioration between Washington and the United Nations. The Trump administration has cut funding to UN agencies and withdrawn from dozens of its bodies.
US ambassador Jeff Bartos criticised Turk's reappointment after the vote and warned "there will be consequences" for an assembly that "tolerates procedural overreach, backroom deals, and the misuse of UN posts".
What distinguishes this incident is that the disagreement is now between the US and France — two permanent members of the Security Council and long-standing allies — playing out during a session convened on Ukraine rather than on human rights at all.
Reporting basis: BBC World.
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