Russia assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council throughout April: “It’s a bad joke”

Russia assumes this Saturday the rotating presidency of the UN Security Councila responsibility that he will occupy for a month and that is fundamentally formal, but which has angered the Ukrainian government and has generated calls for boycotts.

During April, the Russian delegation will be in charge of managing the work agenda and chairing the meetings of the highest decision-making body of the United Nations, at whose head a Member State is placed each month based on a rotation in alphabetical order.

One of the main benefits of the position is that the Presidency can organize special sessions on matters that he considers particularly important and that are often attended by members of the Government.

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In the Russian case, it is expected that the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrovtrip to New York to chair at least two of these meetings, one focused on respect for the United Nations charter and the other on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, according to diplomatic sources.

The official programme, which will be approved and presented next Monday, is in any case full of regular meetings on the various conflicts and issues that the Council deals with, regardless of who chairs it.

“A Bad Joke”

For Ukraine, however, seeing Russia at the helm of the most important UN body is “a bad joke,” its foreign minister said this week. Dmytro Kuleba.

“Russia usurped a seat, it is carrying out a colonial war, its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children,” Kuleba said via Twitter and referring to the ukrainian stance that Moscow illegally inherited the post from the Soviet Union and the recent decision of the International Criminal Court against Vladimir Putin.

In a recent opinion piece, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsyastressed that the Presidency gives Russia real power, recalled that the last time she held it was when the invasion began and defended that there is a legal basis to exclude her from that post, and even to expel her from the Security Council, reports efe.

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This interpretation of the rules, however, clashes with that of most countries, including Western powers, which consider that the rules do not allow such a measure.

For now, the Council countries are not expected to listen to boycott calls launched by some pro-Ukrainian organizations and, at most, they could choose to send lower-ranking diplomats to some of the meetings hosted by Russia, according to diplomats.

In general, the rest of the powers consider that the work of the body should not be endangered and downplay the figure of the Presidency.

“I don’t think we should give it great importance,” said a Western diplomat this week who requested anonymity and who was convinced that Russia will exercise responsibility in a “professional” manner.