Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the United Nations to expel Russia from its permanent seat on the Security Council in the wake of evidence that Russian troops committed war crimes during their invasion and ongoing occupation of Ukraine.
What Happened: In a virtual speech delivered to the Security Council’s membership at UN headquarters in New York City, Zelensky accused Russia of abusing its veto power on the council to block meaningful actions to halt its military presence in Ukraine. Zelensky included a graphic video of Ukrainian civilians he said were murdered by Russian forces.
“We are dealing with a state that is turning the veto [in] the U.N. Security Council into the right to die,” Zelensky said. “This undermines the whole architecture of global security and allows them to go unpunished. The main thing is today, it’s time to transform the system, the United Nations,” he told the Security Council.
“If there is no alternative and no option, then the next option would be to dissolve yourself all together,” Zelensky told the Security Council audience.
What Happens Next: When the UN was launched in 1945, the five major Allied nations — the U.S., U.K., France, U.S.S.R. and Republic of China — were granted permanent membership with veto power, with the council’s remaining seats rotating among other nations.
The U.N. Charter has no mechanism for removing a permanent Security Council member, although on two occasions a different government took over a seat. In 1971, the People’s Republic of China was seated as the Chinese representative to the U.N. with the Republic of China (more commonly known as Taiwan) being expelled from the world body. In 1991, the Russian Federation inherited the U.S.S.R.’s seat after the end of the Cold War.
Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution in February that condemned the invasion of Ukraine and has denied Zelensky’s charges of atrocities committed against Ukrainian civilians.
Photo courtesy of United Nations' Flickr page
