Japan considers it necessary to reform the UN Security Council, as well as to strengthen the role of the UN General Assembly (GA). This was stated by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, speaking at a special session of the UN General Assembly on the situation in Ukraine. He accused Russia of abusing the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
According to Mr. Hayashi, it is necessary to “restore confidence” in the UN. He criticized Russia’s actions in Ukraine, accusing the Russian side of complete disregard for UN General Assembly resolutions. “Russia, apparently, simply ignores the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, as if they were scraps of used paper,” he stressed (quoted by TASS).
According to the minister, Russia is also abusing the status of a nuclear power. “We cannot tolerate the threat of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, not to mention the use itself,” said Yoshimasa Hayashi.
In December 2022, India advocated reform of the UN Security Council. According to Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, the countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia should be represented in the Security Council.
Against the backdrop of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, some countries are calling for Russia to be excluded from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (in addition to the Russian Federation, China, the USA, France and Great Britain are among them). Ukraine believes that the Russian Federation became a member of the UN governmental body, bypassing the organization’s charter. The United States admitted that it does not yet see the possibility of its exclusion. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke in favor of suspending the membership of the Russian Federation, but not for its complete exclusion. The office of the UN Secretary General believes that calls to exclude Russia “do not contribute to peace.”