US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on the United Nations to send "a unified message" to Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Blinken told the Human Rights Forum, "We must send a resolute and unified message that President Putin should unconditionally stop this unprovoked attack, as the Secretary-General [of the United Nations] and the High Commissioner [on Human Rights] have done and immediately withdraw Russian forces from Ukraine."

Ironically, he also suggested that Russia should be stripped of UN rights council membership.

The Secretary of State virtually addressed the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Russia not seeking to "occupy" Ukraine

It is noteworthy that US activists are planning a rally to voice their concerns and inform Americans that the current crisis in Ukraine was caused by NATO’s expansion further eastward and the West's support of the 2014 coup in Kiev, Phil Wilayto, co-founder of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, told Sputnik.

Last Thursday, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls from the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk for help in countering the aggression of Ukrainian forces, which they had been witnessing since 2014.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the Russian military was not seeking to "occupy" Ukrainian territory and that troops were doing everything possible to protect civilians' lives, including limiting strikes to military targets using precision weapons.

Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Major Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters that the Russian army has destroyed 1,325 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.