The United States walked out of a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday as France’s ambassador was speaking, in an extraordinary public rupture between the two allies over human rights policy and UN governance.
US ambassador Dan Negrea led the delegation out of the chamber while France’s envoy Jerome Bonnafont was addressing an emergency session on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Negrea said the US would continue to make similar protests until France ‘renounces their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric.’
The walkout was the culmination of a dispute that began last week when Washington voted alongside Russia and North Korea against renewing Volker Turk’s term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The vote passed overwhelmingly with 144 states in favor, 10 against, and 13 abstentions, but the US alignment with authoritarian states drew sharp criticism from European allies.
France’s UN mission posted a pointed statement after the vote, saying: ‘The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore.’ The remark infuriated Washington and set the stage for Monday’s confrontation.
US ambassador Mike Waltz fired back, accusing France of supporting a human rights chief who had been ‘lecturing’ democratic nations while ‘cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.’ Waltz did not elaborate on the charge, but Turk has been outspoken in criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
In Friday’s vote, US ambassador Jeff Bartos warned of consequences, saying the assembly ‘tolerates procedural overreach, backroom deals, and the misuse of UN posts.’ He added: ‘The United States will immediately reassess our engagement, participation, and funding.’
France’s Bonnafont defended Turk as ‘a voice of conscience’ who demonstrated ‘rigor and impartiality’ during his first term leading the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The diplomatic incident reflects deepening tensions between the Trump administration and the United Nations. Washington has cut funding for multiple UN agencies since January and withdrawn from dozens of UN entities, part of a broader reassessment of multilateral engagement that has alienated traditional European partners.
Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq declined to comment directly on the US walkout, saying the organization expected all member states to respect the General Assembly’s decision to reappoint Turk.
The public rift between Washington and Paris is among the most serious in recent transatlantic history. France has traditionally been one of America’s closest allies on the Security Council, and the two countries have coordinated closely on issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to counterterrorism operations in the Sahel.
Diplomats said the walkout could complicate cooperation on Ukraine, where both the US and France are key military backers of Kyiv. Analysts warned that the breakdown in decorum at the Security Council risks undermining the body’s ability to address urgent global crises when it is already struggling with gridlock over the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.
Monday’s meeting was called to discuss Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, but the US-France confrontation overshadowed the substance of the session.