Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed any Ukrainian peace plan supported by Kyiv and the West out of hand at a fiery United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York on January 23.

“All of these formulas are a road to nowhere, and the sooner Washington, London, Paris and Brussels realise this the better for Ukraine and the West,” Lavrov said, reports AP, adding that the “crusade against Russia has already created new, clear, reputational and existential risks.” China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun, also a member of the UNSC, supported Russia, warning that more global geopolitical chaos could worsen the already slowing global economy.

Lavrov claimed that Ukraine’s military efforts to counter Russia’s unprovoked attack 700 days ago are "a complete failure" and accused Ukraine and its Western allies of using peace plans as a delaying tactic to allow the continuation of the war and buy time to raise more money from “Western taxpayers.” Lavrov said that the Western-back proxy war in Ukraine was “incapable” of defeating or weakening Russia.

"It is quite obvious today to the overwhelming majority of unbiased experts that the key factor hindering the search for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is the West's ongoing support for the Kyiv regime, despite its obvious agony and inability to achieve its assigned goal to inflict a strategic defeat to Russia or, as they have started saying recently, at least to weaken my country," Lavrov said at a UN Security Council meeting dedicated to the situation in Ukraine.

"The reality is that, despite the complete failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield, the Western patrons of the Kyiv regime continue to push it with maniacal persistence to continue the senseless military confrontation," the minister said. "This is done under false slogans that a collapse of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelenskiy's regime would supposedly pose an existential threat to Ukrainians, whom Russia wants to enslave. For those who have worked their way through the genesis of the Ukrainian crisis, it is obvious that there is not a shred of truth in these claims."

The US has officially halted both its financial and military aid to Ukraine after all the previous allocated resources were used up in January. Western financial and military aid from both the US and EU has become snarled in internal wrangling leaving the prospects for Ukraine’s ability to continue to defend itself this year uncertain.

Lavrov’s outburst provoked a strong response from US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood, who dismissed Lavrov's claims as "blatant disinformation" and pointed out that Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 initiated the conflict.

Wood criticised Russia's “imperialist designs” and said that the Kremon is seeking a total capitulation of Ukraine, a goal that is unacceptable to the international community.

Lavrov countered by criticising Western military aid to Ukraine, which prompted diplomats from over 40 countries to stand up and surround Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya in a show of solidarity.

Ukraine's supporters condemned Russia's military support from Iran and North Korea in violation of UN sanctions on both those counties. The meeting highlighted calls for increased peace efforts. Several plans have been floated, including a 12-point Chinese peace plan that was introduced on the first anniversary of the start of the war last year. However, as that plan largely mirrored Russian claims to sovereignty over the four regions annexed by Russia in faked referenda last year as well as its claim to Crimea, Beijing’s plan has been largely dismissed as unworkable. At the same time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy released his own 10-point peace plan at the G20 summit in November 2022 that calls for Russia to entirely exit Ukrainian territory before negotiations can start, which Moscow has also rejected out of hand.

A peace plan was agreed early in the war in March 2022, but was ultimately rejected by Zelenskiy after he was dissuaded by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Lavrov has since rejected calls to restart peace talks, saying that Russia had already agreed to a ceasefire with Ukraine, but the deal was rejected, and the Kremlin sees no point in revisiting the topic.

China expressed concern about the global security threat posed by the ongoing war in Ukraine, occurring simultaneously with conflict in Gaza and the widening unrest in the Red Sea region. China urged “respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.” “We must spare no effort to stem the spillover of the [Ukraine] crisis at a time when the Palestinian-Israeli conflict drags on, and some hotspot issues are at the risk of flaring up,” Zhang said. “The world cannot afford to see further spreading of geopolitical clashes at the same time the global economy is slowing down.” Zhang called for the resumption of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations and discussed the negative economic impacts of the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He urged influential countries to refrain from politicising the world economy and emphasised the importance of collaboration for global food, energy, and financial security.

However, Lavrov went to tell the UNSC that Moscow is “always ready to negotiate peace,” but went on to make it plain that Moscow would only negotiate on its own terms and claimed peace plans presented by Ukraine and its Western “masters” are “only used as cover to continue war and continue getting money from Western taxpayers.” Russia called the UNSC meeting to again sharply criticise Western military aid to Ukraine.

China was the third speaker from the 15-member council and Lavrov left immediately after Zhang spoke, giving his seat to a deputy. Lavrov didn’t hear Wood’s remarks, but he did hear Malta’s UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier who echoed the US call for Russia to withdraw its forces and accused Moscow of violating its duty to maintain international peace and security, the Security Council’s primary mission.

“Today’s meeting is yet another attempt to justify the unjustifiable and seek to provide a narrative where the victim is the aggressor and the aggressor the victim,” Frazier said reports AP, decrying the killing of 10,200 Ukrainian civilians, including 575 children, and injuries to more than 19,300 others in Russian attacks since the war began, according to the UN human rights office.