UN Security Council Archives

Zelenskiy calls for Russia to lose its veto power at UN Security Council

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and Russian Ambassador Nebenzia clashed at a UN Security Council meeting on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Albanian Prime Minister Rama made a sarcastic remark, and Zelenskiy called for Russia to be stripped of its veto right.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a high level Security Council meeting during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday. (AP)

It was Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy’s first in-person appearance at a UN Security Council meeting on Moscow’s invasion of his country when Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to him taking the floor at the start of the meeting, according to Reuters reports.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama responded with a gibe at Moscow, which has long said the invasion does not amount to war but was a mere “special military operation”.

“I want to assure our Russian colleagues and everyone here that this is not a special operation by the Albanian presidency,” Rama, known for a piercing sense of humor, said to muted laughter across the room, Reuters reported.

Addressing Nebenzia directly at the meeting, Rama said, “There is a solution for this. If you agree, you stop the war and President Zelenskiy will not take the floor.”

However, Nebenzia did not agree and went on to say the session was a show. He criticized Rama for what he said was making politically charged statements rather than acting as a neutral guardian of procedure.

After the session, the Ukrainian PM expressed gratitude to Rama on social media, saying the Albanian showed the world how to correctly handle Russia along with its lies and hypocrisy.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/world/zelenskiy-calls-for-russia-to-lose-its-veto-power-at-un-security-council-11695256928569.html

‘Stop the war’ and Zelenskiy need not speak, UN Security Council chair tells Russia

It was to be Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy’s first in-person appearance at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Moscow’s invasion of his country when Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to him taking the floor at the start of the meeting.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, serving as president of the tense session, responded with a gibe at Moscow, which has long said the invasion does not amount to a war but was a mere “special military operation”.

“There is a solution for this,” Rama continued, addressing Nebenzia directly: “If you agree, you stop the war and President Zelenskiy will not take the floor.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the United Nations Security Council during a ministerial level meeting of the Security Council on the crisis in Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar Acquire Licensing Rights

Nebenzia did not agree. He went on to say the session was a show and criticized Rama for what he said was making politically charged statements rather than acting as a neutral guardian of procedure.

After the session, Zelenskiy thanked Rama on social media, saying the Albanian, who is both an artist and former basketball player, “showed the world how to correctly handle Russia, its lies, and its hypocrisy.”

In seeking to justify its invasion, Moscow has said Ukraine’s ambitions to integrate with the West – including NATO – pose a threat to Russia’s national security, an assertion that Kyiv and its allies deny as a baseless pretext to attack.

When given the floor after the back-and-forth, Zelenskiy asked Russia be stripped of its veto right as one of five permanent members of the post-World War Two U.N. Security Council as punishment for attacking Ukraine.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/stop-war-zelenskiy-wont-speak-un-security-council-chair-tells-russia-2023-09-20

Russia assumes UN Security Council presidency despite Ukrainian anger

A Russian tank in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol in March last year

Russia has taken the presidency of the UN Security Council despite Ukraine urging members to block the move.

Each of the council’s 15 members takes up the presidency for a month, on a rotating pattern.

The last time Russia had the presidency, February 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It means the Security Council is being led by a country whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

The International Criminal Court – which is not a UN institution – issued the warrant for Vladimir Putin last month.

Despite Ukraine’s complaints, the United States said it could not block Russia – a permanent council member – from assuming the presidency.

The other permanent members of the council are the UK, US, France, and China.

The role is mostly procedural, but Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, told the Russian Tass news agency that he planned to oversee several debates, including one on arms control.

He said he would discuss a “new world order” that, he said, was coming to “replace the unipolar one”.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s presidency “the worst joke ever for April Fool’s Day” and a “stark reminder that something is wrong with the way international security architecture is functioning”.

And in a further comment on Saturday, he called it “a slap in the face to the international community”.

Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said the move was “another rape of international law… an entity that wages an aggressive war, violates the norms of humanitarian and criminal law, destroys the UN Charter, neglects nuclear safety, can’t head the world’s key security body”.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called last year for the Security Council to reform or “dissolve altogether”, accusing it of failing to take enough action to prevent Russia’s invasion.

He has also called for Russia to be removed of its member status.

But the US has said its hands were tied as the UN charter does not allow for the removal of a permanent member.

“Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a news briefing this week.

She added the US expects Moscow “to continue to use its seat on the council to spread disinformation” and justify its actions in Ukraine.

The UN Security Council is an international body responsible for maintaining peace.

Five nations are permanently represented on the Security Council. They reflect the post-war power structure that held sway when the council was formed.

Members of this group work alongside 10 non-permanent member countries.

Russia’s presence as a permanent member on the Security Council means it can veto resolutions.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65146557

North Korea says UN should demand end to South Korea-US military drills

FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

North Korea’s foreign ministry on Sunday (Mar 5) called on the United Nations to demand an immediate halt to combined military drills by the United States and South Korea, saying they were raising tensions that threaten to spiral out of control.

The drills and rhetoric from the allies are “irresponsibly raising the level of confrontation”, Kim Son Gyong, vice foreign minister for international organisations, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.

The United States and South Korea will conduct more than 10 days of large-scale military exercises in March, including amphibious landings, officials from the two countries said on Friday.

The US and South Korea say the exercises are in self-defence and are necessary to counter the rising threats from North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes, which are banned by UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it said was the collapse of international arms control systems and said Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons were a just response to ensure the balance of power in the region.

The allies also conducted a combined air drill with an American long-range bomber and South Korean fighter aircraft on Friday, and have been staging weeks of exercises for special rations troops.

“The UN and the international community will have to strongly urge the US and South Korea to immediately halt their provocative remarks and joint military exercises,” Kim said.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/china-taiwan-peaceful-reunification-respect-democracy-li-keqiang-parliament-defence-military-3325826