UNITED NATIONS, United States, March 17, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The United
States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland have requested an
emergency UN Security Council meeting Thursday because of the deteriorating
humanitarian situation in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.

   "Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians," the British
diplomatic mission to the UN said Wednesday on its Twitter account. "Russia's
illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all."

   Earlier in the day, Russia asked to again postpone a UN Security Council
vote on a resolution it drafted about the "humanitarian" situation in
Ukraine.

   The vote, first scheduled for Wednesday and then pushed to Thursday
afternoon, is to be set for Friday morning -- unless the draft is dropped
altogether due to lack of support from Moscow's allies.

   Discussions are also underway, according to other diplomatic sources, to
allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak to the United Nations
General Assembly.

   France and Mexico, which drafted a resolution calling for a "cessation of
hostilities" in Ukraine, have given up presenting their text to the Security
Council, where Russia -- which holds the rotating presidency for March -- can
veto it.

   They were instead to present it to the General Assembly, where no country
alone can block a text.

   On February 25, the day after Russia invaded its neighbor, 11 of the
Security Council's 15 members voted in favor of a text condemning the
invasion, although Russia vetoed it.

   On March 2, the General Assembly massively approved a resolution
condemning Russia's invasion. That resolution received 141 votes in favor,
five votes against and 35 abstentions.

  US President Joe Biden condemned Vladimir Putin as a "war criminal"
Wednesday, while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) -- the UN's highest
court -- ordered Russia to suspend its military operations in Ukraine.