Any UN resolution condemning Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine will fail because of Russia’s right of veto in the Security Council. Ukraine is therefore demanding the suspension from the most important body of the United Nations. It should already be discussed among diplomats.
Ukraine wants to request that Russia be removed as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. “Tomorrow we will officially state our position,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Ukrainian television late Sunday evening. “We have a very simple question: Does Russia have the right to remain a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to be in the United Nations at all?”
“We have a convincing and reasoned answer: no, it didn’t,” he added. According to Kuleba, the issue is already being discussed in diplomatic circles.
EU Council President Charles Michel had already called for Russia’s suspension from the Security Council in September. “If a permanent member of the Security Council starts an unprovoked and unjustifiable war, a war that has been condemned by the United Nations General Assembly, I think his suspension by the Security Council should be automatic,” the Belgian said at the UN General Assembly in NYC. In fact, however, it is not possible to enforce decision-making processes in the body against the will of a veto power like Russia.
The most powerful body of the United Nations consists of 15 members. Its job is to deal with global crises, such as imposing sanctions, approving military action and approving amendments to the UN Charter. In addition to Russia, the five permanent members with veto power include the USA, Great Britain, France and China.
The powerlessness of the Security Council has seldom become as clear as it was at the beginning of the Ukraine war. During an emergency meeting of the body on the conflict in February this year, Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military offensive against the neighboring country. Every attempt by the Security Council to hold Moscow accountable failed. As a veto power, Russia can prevent any critical resolution.
There has been criticism of the Security Council, its structure and functioning for a long time. Countries like Germany have been pushing for reforms in vain for years. The right of veto of the permanent members is considered untouchable anyway. That’s why the Security Council’s hands are tied when one of its permanent members is the “aggressor,” as US President Joe Biden put it about Russia in the Ukraine crisis
