Russia must be removed from the UN Security Council – Ukrainian FM

Wide view of the UN Security Council Chamber. Photo: UN/Loey Felipe

2023/03/15 - 17:36 • Latest news Ukraine

In his article published by The Hill, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls for removing Russia from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) due to its violations of international law and norms, and because Russia “never legally acquired its status as a permanent UN Security Council member.”

“Over the past year, Russia has invaded a neighboring country, attempted to annex its territory, systematically shelled residential areas, obliterated entire cities and villages, raped, looted, committed genocide and implemented probably the largest campaign of forcible transfer of children in modern history. Russia didn’t just breach peace — it tore it to shreds,” Kuleba wrote.

The Ukrainian foreign minister highlights that Russia put itself above and beyond rules long ago with its 2008 invasion of Georgia, threatening Moldova, its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, meddling in US domestic politics, weaponizing energy and information, sending its Wagner mercenaries to destabilize and exploit Africa.

“Remember, Russia did not just invade its neighbor in a manner that brought back memories of World War II. It tried to freeze to death the entire Ukrainian nation by attacking its power and heat generation during the winter of 2022-23. Moreover, it threatens to use nuclear weapons, and its state-owned media preaches genocide of the Ukrainian people,” Kuleba says.

The minister stresses that Russia received its UNSC permanent member seat illegally:

“The simple change of the Soviet name plate to the Russian one was the largest diplomatic fraud of the 20th century. Let me reiterate what I said at the United Nations Security Council in February: Russia has turned the seat of a permanent member into a throne of impunity. We are now dealing with the consequences of the breach of rules that happened 32 years ago.”

Dmytro Kuleba calls to remove Russia from the United Nations security council:

“Russia never legally acquired its status as a permanent UN Security Council member and must lose its seat in this esteemed chamber. Until that happens, the criminal in a judge’s seat will continue to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the whole United Nations system,” he concludes.