On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confronted Russia directly in the UN Security Council, saying that the invasion of his country was “criminal” and requested that Moscow be stripped of its veto power.
For the first time since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Zelensky sat in his military uniform in the same room with a Russian official.
“Most of the world knows the truth about this war,” Zelensky said, as Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations sat in front of him. “It is a criminal and unprovoked aggression by Russia against our country, aimed at controlling Ukraine’s territory and resources.”
He called on the United Nations to strip Russia of its veto power in the Security Council, saying it was a fundamental reform that would simultaneously strengthen the representation of the developing world, where support for Ukraine has been lukewarm at the United Nations.
Zelensky said, “The presence of veto power in the hands of the aggressor is what pushed the United Nations into a dead end… It is impossible to end the war, because all efforts are blocked by the aggressor or by those who turn a blind eye to the aggressor.”
He reiterated the Ukrainian position that the veto power belonged to the Soviet Union, one of the victors in World War II after which the United Nations was established, and not to Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
“Unfortunately, this seat on the Security Council that Russia illegally occupies… has been seized by liars whose mission is to whitewash aggression and genocide,” Zelensky said.
Russian dissatisfaction
But depriving Russia of the veto would be extremely difficult.
However, there is a precedent. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly stripped Taiwan of the veto power it enjoyed as China’s representative, granting it instead to the communist government on the mainland.
But the tension began even before Zelensky spoke, when the Russian side expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision of Albania, which currently chairs the Security Council and is represented by Prime Minister Edi Rama, to allow the Ukrainian president to take the podium first.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia, who has repeatedly requested to speak to Rama, said that allowing Zelensky, a former comedian, to take the stage to speak first risks “undermining the authority of the Security Council” and turning it into a “one-man show.”
Rama responded to the Russian envoy calmly, but with clear resentment, saying: “There is a solution. Stop the war, and President Zelensky will not take the stage.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke before Zelensky, and strongly criticized Russia.
He said: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which clearly violates the United Nations Charter and international law, exacerbates geopolitical tensions and divisions, threatens regional stability, increases the nuclear threat, and causes deep fissures in our increasingly multipolar world.”
Albania allowed 63 speakers to attend this session, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and American Anthony Blinken, who used the session to accuse Moscow of committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
He said in his speech: “Russia commits war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine on a daily basis.”
Lavrov, a former ambassador to the United Nations and known for his harsh statements, arrived in New York late Tuesday, and Russian state media reported that his plane took a circuitous route, avoiding European airspace.
Lavrov said that Russia’s veto power in the UN Security Council is a “legitimate” legal tool granted to the five permanent members of this body.
In his speech before Blinken, Lavrov accused the West of arming Kiev and pushing it towards a military conflict against Russia.
He said: “The principle of non-interference in internal affairs has been trampled on several times.”
He added that Russia is open to negotiating a way out of the Ukrainian crisis, and accused Zelensky of refusing to engage in talks.
Lavrov explained: “With regard to negotiations, we do not refuse to negotiate. But I want to remind the respected Foreign Minister (Anthony Blinken) that President Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting negotiations with Putin’s government.”
He continued: “I think it will not be very difficult to give an order to Zelensky to cancel the decree.”
He pointed out that the West’s refusal to deal with Russia on an equal footing over the years led to the current crisis in Ukraine.
This year, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rarely goes to the United Nations, did not attend. He has been absent from other high-level diplomatic meetings this year, as Western countries seek to isolate him, while he faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against him.
France 24/AFP
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2023-09-21 03:11:44
