Washington

On Saturday (April 1), Russia takes over the rotating presidency of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council for a month, a move that is being decried by Ukraine and the US.

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Russia, which is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, can authorise military action, deploy peacekeepers, sanction nations and individuals, and refer possible war crimes cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC) even as the country’s President Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant for war crimes from The Hague.

However, critics are questioning how could Russia take over the UN’s most powerful organ when its leader, Vladimir Putin, was served with an arrest warrant by the ICC over alleged war crimes, and the Kremlin planning to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus amidst the Ukraine war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba termed the starting of Russia’s one-month presidency a “bad joke”.

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“Russian UN Security Council presidency on April 1 is a bad joke. Russia has usurped its seat; it’s waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

“The world can’t be a safe place with Russia at UNSC #BadRussianJoke #InsecurityCouncil.”

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Echoing similar concerns, US White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said that the Biden administration expects Russia “to continue to use its seat on the council to spread disinformation” and urged the country “to conduct itself professionally” during its time with the presidency, Reuters reported.

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“Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” Jean-Pierre said.

UNSC comprises 15 members. While the permanent members are Russia, China, the US, France and the United Kingdom, the non-permanent members of the council are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for two-year terms. The permanent members take turns as president according to alphabetical order (as per the English spellings).

The last time Russia presidency came up in the rotation was in February 2022, when Putin launched his "special military operation" into Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)

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