Russia's foreign minister claimed they had 'many friends' but only four countries backed them at UN

Russian grandstanding has been revealed to be just that after their foreign minister's claim about how much international support the country has didn't exactly materialise.

Yesterday Sergei Lavrov suggested that Russia had allies it could call upon and wasn't acting unilaterally.

"Russia has many friends and it cannot be excluded," he said in an interview with Aljazeera TV channel.

Mere hours later The United Nations voted overwhelmingly for a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraineand called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.

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141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 34 abstained, and five voted against. The only countries to vote no in support of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Cuba, Nicaragua and China were amongst the nations that abstained.

How's that for "many friends"?

It comes as Ukraine reports that more than 2,000 civilians have died since the invasion began last Thursday. The conflict has also caused more than a million people to flee Ukraine, according to the UN.

Elsewhere at the UN, diplomats walked out as Lavrov's pre-recorded speech played, in protest against the invasion.

The UK’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said his statement was “full of disinformation” and did not deserve the attention of other members.

What's certain is Lavrov has big: "I have a girlfriend but you wouldn't know her, she goes to another school" energy.

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