- Angry French cognac makers see red over Chinese tariffs threat
- Protect the prosciutto: Italy battles swine fever
- UN holds 'Summit of the Future' to tackle global crises
- Marxist leader set to become Sri Lanka's next president
- From blades to pull-up bars: UK charity tackles knife crime
- Swiss vote on pensions and environment protections
- No pain, no gain: Chinese pro wrestlers fight for recognition
- UAE leader seeks to deepen 'strategic' ties in US visit during Mideast crisis
- Hezbollah takes heavy hits but still fighting Israel
- Floods, landslides hit central Japan months after major quake
- All Blacks coach Robertson demands better finishing
- Argentina edge South Africa to keep title hopes alive
- Biden says China 'testing us,' in hot mic remarks to Quad allies
- Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Guardiola says critics want Man City wiped 'from face of the Earth'
- Biden says 'Quad' is 'here to stay' despite challenges
- Dubois knocks out Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Vinicius helps 'faster' Madrid overturn stubborn Espanyol
- Zelensky to press US on long-range missile strikes inside Russia
- PSG drop first points in draw at Reims
- Vinicius, Mbappe on target as Madrid crush plucky Espanyol
- Jeeno leads Ko by two at LPGA Queen City Championship
- Bottega Veneta goes for 'E.T.' chic as Madonna pops into D&G
- Messi, Miami frustrated by New York late leveler
- Musk's X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban
- 'Business as usual' for Australia match-winner Carey amid boos
- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
The lonely envoy: Moscow's man at the UN finds himself on the defensive
It was the middle of an emergency session of the UN Security Council, late on the evening of February 23, and Vassily Nebenzia looked shaken -- his face pale, his shoulders sagging.
Russia, the country he represents at the United Nations, had just invaded Ukraine, sending shock waves around the world that continue to reverberate today.
At nearly 60, Nebenzia -- a bald man, massively built, who wears thin-framed glasses and often fiddles with his watch -- was chairing the Council.
It was a shocking first for the UN: The man presiding over the august body dedicated to defending global peace was also the representative of a nuclear power now waging war against a democracy...
Did he know, when he opened the session and sat listening as his colleagues delivered impassioned pleas for Moscow to pull back the armed forces surrounding much of Ukraine -- that they had already invaded?
More generally, does he believe the words in the speeches he reads?
"I don't know, but I believe not," one UN official told AFP, speaking on grounds of anonymity.
Several ambassadors said they shared that impression.
The Ukrainian ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, regularly asks Nebenzia if he is actually in touch with Moscow.
British envoy Barbara Woodward, a specialist in Russian and Chinese affairs, reminded Nebenzia that "the great Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote: 'Man is given not only one life, but also one conscience.'"
"I know that you’ve spoken under instructions today, but I ask you to report faithfully back to Moscow what you have heard today –- the urgency of this Council's calls for peace."
Nebenzia did not respond to an AFP request for an interview.
He has, in resigned tones, followed his government's line at emergency meetings of the Council since war broke out, and further sessions are expected this week.
Under the exasperated eyes of his foreign colleagues, he has read speeches denying media reports of the destruction of civilian sites.
In impromptu replies, he has on occasion used the word "war" -- a word banned by Moscow in regard to Ukraine. But each time he has been careful to note that the word was first used by his boss, Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov.
"The Russian system has never been as centralized," said one Western ambassador, speaking anonymously.
Russian diplomats "are excellent professionals, but they are not in a position to interact with power, they are simply there to execute government dictates, whether involved in preparing them or not -- and usually not."
- Two things at once -
At the UN, Nebenzia is known for his deep mastery of the issues. His career has taken him to Bangkok and Geneva, with a specialty in international organizations. He is fluent in the arcana of multilateral maneuvering and uses his deep understanding of procedure to his country's benefit.
Outside the sometimes theatrical jousting in the hallowed halls of the Security Council, his relations with colleagues are cordial and polite -- and have remained so since the invasion, according to several sources.
The ambassador is a man of culture with a sense of humor.
"I can do two things at the same time," he told AFP with a smile, after displaying the surprising ability to deliver a speech in Russian while listening to its English translation simultaneously on his headphones.
Russians are trained in this multi-tasking, his aides say. That allows them to ensure that their addresses are rendered as precisely as possible in the language in which most will hear them -- and to correct any errors on the spot, diplomats say.
At diplomatic receptions Nebenzia shows a convivial side. His favorite cocktail? "Half vodka, half Champagne," he once told two French journalists.
Married and father of a son, the ambassador likes to take off on weekends on his European motorbike -- a solitary hobby that goes well with the newly solitary status thrust on him by the Ukraine crisis.
But he is never far from the drama these days.
On February 28, during a news conference marking the end of his month leading Russia's rotating presidency of the Security Council, he abruptly interrupted the proceedings to answer his cell phone.
After listening for a moment without speaking, he hung up and announced -- adopting a tone of victimhood -- that the United States was expelling 12 members of his diplomatic mission.
Sources in Washington have said the 12 are spies -- with no connection to the war.
Diplomats later told AFP the 12 are members of the military.
J.Bergmann--BTB