The Ukrainian government formally requested this Monday the exclusion of Russia from the United Nations Security Council (UN) alleging that Moscow illegitimately “usurped” the position of the Soviet Union after its disintegration.
Ukraine calls on the rest of the UN member states “to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to exclude it from the UN as a whole,” according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine. kyiv.
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The Ukrainian government argues that the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 left “unresolved” questions of continuity in the field of international law.
Thus, the Russian Federation came to occupy the seat of the USSR in the Security Council without completing the procedures defined in the Charter of the United Nations, according to which the move should have been approved by the body in question, as well as by the General Assembly.
With this, kyiv points out, the legal procedure stipulated in Article 4 of the Charter to admit new members, which other newly created states such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia did follow, was not complied with, and cannot be replaced by other formalities such as the agreement of a group of ex-Soviet countries in this regard in 1991 or the opinion of the legal adviser of the UN Secretariat.
“From a legal and political point of view there can only be one conclusion: Russia has usurped the Soviet Union’s seat on the Security Council,” the statement stressed.
kyiv also questions “the right of the Russian Federation to join the UN in general,” as the Charter stipulates that membership is open “to all peace-loving states.”
However, “the three decades of illegal presence in the UN have been marked by wars and the seizure of the territories of other countries, the violent change of internationally recognized borders and attempts to satisfy their invasive and neo-imperial ambitions.”
In addition, in its role as a permanent veto-wielding member of the Council, Moscow has abused its power to “incite conflicts and systematically block decisions necessary for their resolution.”
For all these reasons, kyiv argues, it is necessary to exclude the Russian Federation from the United Nations, which could apply again if it meets the stipulated criteria and the Council recommends it.
Ukraine “initiates a complex process with the aim of achieving the goals of this declaration” and in this context “is ready to cooperate with other countries to protect the UN Charter and international law from the destructive influence of the Russian Federation.” », concludes the statement.
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There is no formal procedure to exclude permanent members of the UN Security Council and to expel a state from the organization would require a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly following a Council recommendation, something that has never happened so far. .
This Monday marks 306 days since Russia began the invasion of Ukraine. The fighting does not stop for a single day despite Russia’s declarations that it is ready for negotiations, words that kyiv mistrusts.
With information from Efe and Rtve.
