The UN secretary general and Russia's foreign minister have expressed disappointment over the US leaving the UN Human Rights Council. Antonio Guterres and Sergey Lavrov spoke while meeting in Russia.

ANTONIO GUTERRES UN SECRETARY GENERAL "We, of course, would much prefer the United States to remain in the Human Rights Council, and I do believe that the human rights architecture is a key tool at the present moment in order to promote and to protect human rights around the world."

SERGEY LAVROV RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER "We hope that this decision is not final, and that the US will re-establish its commitment to the United Nations, especially in such an important field as human rights, and as you know the United States considers themselves to be a champion in that field. And if they truly are, they should be armed with the arguments enabling them to work with the Human Rights Council, even if they have to face opponents whose stance and views do not exactly match the American approach."