NEW YORK, April 24 - The United States and Western allies took turns slamming Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine and accused Moscow of trampling over the U.N. Charter, during a lengthy Security Council meeting chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“Our hypocritical convenor today, Russia, invaded its neighbor Ukraine and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, referring to the U.N.’s founding document that vows to preserve sovereignty, peace, justice and the prevention of war, CNBC reported.

“This illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most sacred principle: that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable,” she said. “Today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation that is invaded by its larger neighbor,” she added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who sat next to Lavrov, criticized Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and said it was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.

The conflict he said was “causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has brought “unimaginable suffering to that country while trampling on the U.N. Charter.”

She added that the war has also triggered “an unmitigated disaster for Russia too.”

Meanwhile, Lavrov on Monday declined to say if the U.N.-backed deal that created a humanitarian sea corridor for Ukrainian agricultural products would be extended past its expiry.

“Nice dress,” Lavrov said when asked by a reporter if the Black Sea Grain Initiative was dead.

Lavrov, who flew from Moscow to New York to preside over the Security Council, is expected to discuss Russia’s terms for renewing the deal, which has ushered the movement of more than 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuff around the world.

Ukraine and the U.N. pushed for a 120-day extension of the deal in March. Russia said that it may only acknowledge the extension for 60 days, which puts the expiration date in mid-May. (cnbc/ez)