Russia takes over the presidency of the UN Security Council
With Russia as one of the Security Council's permanent members, its next turn was going to come for it to assume the presidency.
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The backstory: The UN Security Council has 15 members, with permanent member countries being the US, China, France, Russia and the UK (aka the P5). Members of the P5 have the power to veto resolutions. The other 10 members are elected to the council in the UN General Assembly. And the only way to pass a resolution is for nine members to vote in favor and none of the P5 to vote against. Every month, the presidency of the Security Council rotates in alphabetical order. The primary purpose of the Security Council is to ensure international peace and security.
More recently: With Russia as one of the Security Council's permanent members, its next turn was going to come for it to assume the presidency. The last time Russia held the presidency was in February 2022, the same month it invaded Ukraine. Since the war started, Russia has been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Right now, Putin has an arrest warrant against him from the International Criminal Court (which is separate from the UN). As a member of the P5, Russia has been able to veto all the resolutions that have come through interfering with its invasion.
The development: On Saturday, Russia assumed leadership of the Security Council again. Ukraine condemned the move, calling it "absurd" and "destructive." The US said there's not really a way to block Russia from taking over this position but urged it to act professionally. The presidency is seen as mostly procedural, but Russia already said that it plans to "exercise all its rights" with the position.
Key comments:
"[This presidency is] another rape of international law ... an entity that wages an aggressive war, violates the norms of humanitarian and criminal law, destroys the UN Charter, neglects nuclear safety, can't head the world's key security body," tweeted Ukraine's presidential adviser, Mykhaylo Podolyak.
"Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a news briefing.
"I think that people are seeing it the wrong way round. I think that people should understand that this month is more of a headache than an advantage for the Russians," Richard Gowan, UN director for International Crisis Group, told VOA. "If they try and use the presidency to try to stir up trouble for the Ukrainians or push their narratives about the war, they will just get an enormous amount of blowback."
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