Russia has assumed the leadership of the United Nations Security Council despite Ukraine’s pleas to oppose the decision.
Each of the 15 members of the council assumes the presidency for a month on a rotating basis.
In February 2022, the last time Russia held the president, it began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It indicates that the Security Council is governed by a nation whose president is wanted for international arrest for alleged war crimes.
This month, the International Criminal Court, which is not a United Nations entity, issued an arrest order for President Putin.
The United States stated that it could not prevent Russia, a permanent council member, from assuming the presidency despite Ukraine’s protests.
The other permanent members of the council are the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and China.
Vasily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, told the Russian news outlet Tass that he planned to oversee numerous debates, including one on arms control.
He stated that he will outline a “new world order” that would “replace the unipolar one.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba referred to Russia’s presidency as “the worst April Fool’s joke ever” and a “stark warning that something is amiss with the operation of the international security architecture.”
Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhaylo Podolyak, described the move as “another violation of international law…an entity that wages aggressive war, violates humanitarian and criminal law, destroys the UN Charter, and disregards nuclear safety, cannot lead the world’s foremost security organisation.”
Last year, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for the Security Council to be reformed or “disbanded entirely” for failing to take sufficient action to halt the Russian invasion.
He has also advocated for Russia’s membership to be revoked.
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However, the United States stated that its hands were tied since the UN charter prohibits the removal of a permanent member.
This week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a news briefing, “Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and there is no viable international legal road to change that reality.”
She added that the United States anticipates Moscow will “continue to exploit its presence on the council to disseminate disinformation” and defend its actions in Ukraine.
The United Nations Security Council is an international organisation charged with keeping peace.
Permanently represented on the Security Council are five nations. They represent the postwar power structure that prevailed at the time the council was established.
Members of this group collaborate with ten non-permanent member states.
As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has the ability to veto resolutions.
To pass a vote in the Security Council, nine affirmative votes are required, with none of the five permanent members voting against.
Russia blocked a resolution aimed to terminate the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of last year (China, India and the United Arab Emirates all abstained).
In September, Russia vetoed a resolution demanding the revocation of its illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories. Brazil, China, Gabon, and India withheld support.
