UN Security Council rejects Russian bid to hold Ukraine meeting

European countries backed by the United States have blocked a Russian request to hold a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine's new language law.

Last month Ukraine's parliament passed the law, which enforces use of the Ukrainian language in official settings, a move strongly denounced by Russia.

Russia failed to garner the nine votes required to hold the meeting, which was requested on Monday, the same day that Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky took office.

A procedural vote to hold a meeting requires the support of nine countries in the 15-member council. Vetoes do not apply.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre told the council ahead of the vote that the Russian call for the meeting was "not intended to have a constructive discussion" but to "put the new president of Ukraine in the worst light."