France, Germany and Belgium said they asked to postpone the Security Council meeting for several days but Russia refused. The acting U.S. ambassador, Jonathan Cohen, called Moscow's request for Monday's meeting "a clear attempt by Russia to distract from the peaceful, democratic transfer of power happening today in Ukraine." Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the council's refusal to hold the meeting "a blatant demonstration of double standards" by members who approved other meetings. Nebenzia was sharply critical of the new language law, which requires the use of Ukrainian in the government and media and relegates Russian, which is also widely spoken in the country, to personal communications. He also called the language law a violation of the 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at bringing peace to Ukraine's volatile east.

Source: Fox News May 21, 2019 00:11 UTC