Ukraine-Russia conflict exposes international hypocrisy

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has laid bare international hypocrisy to anyone who dares look. Among many such hypocritical actions, I have chosen the following examples.

First is the UN’s hypocrisy. In 2003, the US invaded Iraq without UN authorization. There was no Security Council condemnation because of America’s veto power. There were also no collective sanctions imposed by countries around the world as a result of America’s aggression. In 2014, Russia invaded Crimea in Ukraine without UN authorization.  Again, there was no Security Council condemnation, this time because of Russia’s veto power. However, there were American and European sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation (this falls under US and European hypocrisy).

Second is Russian hypocrisy. In Syria, Moscow came to the aid of Bashar Assad in order to save him from his own people, whom he had bombed, imprisoned, made homeless and generally persecuted. Now, Russia has invaded Ukraine in order to save its people, who Moscow claimed were persecuted, made homeless, imprisoned and bombed by Volodymyr Zelensky.

Third is the US, EU and other countries’ hypocrisy. In 1967, Israel invaded three Arab countries, after which UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 demanded that it withdraw from these territories under the principle of the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.” And yet, not only has Israel not complied with that principle, but it has declared sections of those territories to be part of Israel and is in the process of stealing the land of the Palestinians piece by piece. There have not been any US, EU or other sanctions placed on Israel.

The US, EU and other countries have, however, placed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. If the world wants us to take sides one way or the other, they should not be hypocritical in the way they deal with such conflicts. It is time to abide by the principles of the UN Charter and to abandon the double standards and hypocrisy of the great powers.

• Prince Turki Al-Faisal served as the chief of the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) — Saudi Arabia’s main foreign intelligence service — from 1977 to 2001. He was appointed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK in October 2002. He served in that position until July 2005, when he was appointed Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US. He retired in February 2007. He is the founder and trustee of the King Faisal Foundation and chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS).