Effective this week on April 1st the Russian Federation will assume the Presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States names.
Critics of Moscow fear that Russia will manipulate its chairmanship, which rotates monthly, for its own advantage. For example, it can block meetings and discussions aimed at peaceful solutions during critical war-time developments.
While there have been some 40 UNSC discussions of Ukraine since 2014, there has only been one UNSC resolution – a procedural one – since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. During that period, Russia has five times used its veto power in the UNSC to block action.
Ahead of Russia’s UNSC Presidency, in an exclusive interview, Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said that Russia’s ascenssion to the Presidency of the UN Security Council is a mokery.
“Russia is playing an April Fool’s Day joke on the world by pretending it is entitled to fulfill its duties on the UNSC… It makes a mockery of international law and the UN Charter, which is meant to protect territorial sovereignty, at the same time that Russia continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Nikolenko said.
He added, “The UN’s legitimacy should be questioned… It exists to prevent wars, but we see little action except for initiatives such as humanitarian aid and the grain deal… It’s valid to ask: do we need to reform the UN – including the veto power of permanent members of the UNSC, such as Russia?” he said.
Meanwhile, Serhii Kuzan Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre (USCC) said, “Russia in this role represents the lowest point in the history of the United Nations. By contrast, in 1939, as the USSR, Russia was expelled from the League of Nations for attacking Finland and bombing civilians. But now, despite starting the bloodiest war in Europe since World War 2, Russia is allowed the legitimacy that it craves via the UN.”
