Just after Vladimir Putin took the stage at the U.N. General Assembly for the first time in a decade, the delegation from Ukraine, where a Russian invasion has left the country dismembered and in turmoil, stormed out of the hall.
"The Ukrainian delegation left the Assembly because there is no sense to listen to someone who doesn't have credibility and broke the rules and principles enshrined in the U.N. charter," the Poroshenko administration told Mashable in a statement.
Ukrainian demarche during Putin's speech at #UNGA earlier today pic.twitter.com/CtILqXidkA— Yarema Dukh (@yarko) September 28, 2015
As the delegation left, a group of Ukrainians who stayed in the hall raised a tattered blue-and-yellow flag toward the Russian president.The flag was a remnant from the bloody August 2014 battle of Ilovaisk, where Russian troops swooped in to save pro-Kremlin rebels who were on the verge of defeat by Ukrainian forces. The fight left hundreds of ambushed Ukrainian soldiers dead and marked the first big intervention on the part of Russian forces in the war.
Ukrainian flag from Ilovaysk battle in front of Putin at #UNGA pic.twitter.com/WjN6BqtY61— Yarema Dukh (@yarko) September 28, 2015
The group brought the ensign all the way from the blood-stained battlefields to shame the Russian leader and remind the world of his aggressive actions.
A defiant but not overwhelmingly aggressive Putin stood his ground. He ignored the gesture and carried on with what was largely an underwhelming speech, considering the build-up by Russian media and the country's foreign ministry in recent days.
Putin doesn’t care about saying anything new at the U.N. because he has tanks in Ukraine, fighter jets in Syria, and Obama in the White House.— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) September 28, 2015
Putin's main points
On the United Nations and world order
Putin's spent most of his time bashing the United States without mentioning the nation by name. A "single center of dominance has emerged after the end of the Cold War," he said, which has attempted to revise the role of the U.N. and is "dangerously" undermining world order.
Putin and Obama clink glasses in chilly U.N. toast http://t.co/u5Eqtbvnok [Getty photo] pic.twitter.com/v9s2UgE6Z3— Tim Hanrahan (@TimJHanrahan) September 28, 2015
Putin talked about the original purpose of the U.N., which he said has been violated by "those that found themselves at the top of the pyramid" after the Cold War.
"They thought they knew better and thought they did not have to reckon with the U.N. to legitimize their decisions," Putin said, taking what was likely another jab at the U.S.
Summary of Putin speech: After Cold War the US tried to run the world, started democratic revolutions, messed it up. To fight IS help Assad.— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) September 28, 2015
On fighting terrorism
Putin called for the formation of a "genuinely broad alliance against terrorism, just like the one against Hitler." He said that Muslim countries "should play a key role," and hinted that the U.S. had largely failed in its efforts. But he implied that Russia is willing to take the lead and clean up the mess.
See #pt (2) US, Britain, France, Germany, Gulf States air forces, Iraq, Qassem Suleimani, Turkey, Kurds of all stripes, Syria, Al-Qaeda, FSA— Richard Spencer (@RichardJSpencer) September 28, 2015
On Syria
Putin's shade-throwing at the U.S. didn't end there. The Russian president blasted the U.S. for arming "moderate" rebels in Syria who he said later joined ISIS. He outlined his own plan and rejected the view of President Barack Obama, who had said only an hour earlier that "realism requires a transition away from [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and towards a new leader."
"We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces, who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face," Putin said.
On NATO
Speaking on NATO, Putin lambasted the military alliance for meddling in Russia's sphere of influence.
"They offered the post-Soviet countries a false choice -- either to be with the West, or with the East," he said, referring to Western governments.
"Sooner or later this logic of confrontation was bound to spark off a grave geopolitical crisis," he said.
On Ukraine
"This is exactly what happened in Ukraine where the discontent of population with the current authorities was used and a military coup was orchestrated from outside that triggered a civil war as a result," Putin continued, again failing to admit to Russia's role in the war there.
More than 8,000 people have been killed since the onslaught of the conflict in April 2014, says the U.N. Ukraine and the West blame the Kremlin for fomenting the war and supporting the separatist enclaves in the country's east with money and military equipment. Moscow still denies its soldiers have fought there.
Putin #UNGA2015 nods in direction of need for separatist-led elections in eastern #Ukraine— Andrew S. Weiss (@andrewsweiss) September 28, 2015
"Ukraine's territorial integrity cannot be ensured by threat and force of arms," he said. "What is needed is a genuine consideration for the interests and rights of the people in the Donbass [eastern Ukrainian] region, and respect for their choice," he said.