Russia chairs the UN Council, what it means and how it works

On April 1, Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council. Ukraine had urged the other member countries to prevent it. It is “a shame”, commented Kiev. The Ukrainian foreign minister spoke of a “slap to the world”. But how does the presidency at the Glass Palace work?

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The president of the UN body changes with a monthly shift, following the alphabetical order of the fifteen members. According to the UN Charter, everyone is obliged to respect the decisions of the Council. However, if the symbolic value is very important, the power to influence choices is very little. A diplomat from the Council told ANSA that “the expectation is that the Russians will lead this presidency in a professional manner”

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L’Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenziain an interview with Tass, explained that among the central meetings scheduled for next month there is a debate chaired by Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov on April 24 on the defense of the UN Charter, while on April 10 there will be talk of the transfer of Western weapons to Ukraine

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The last time Moscow held the rotating presidency was in February 2022, the very month it kicked off its invasion of Ukraine. The idea that the body created to maintain international peace and security is headed by a country whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes has raised doubts from many quarters, but several experts believe it is unlikely that Moscow will effectively condition the progress of the works

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Kiev has long been calling for Moscow to be expelled from the Council: a move impossible to carry out, since it would require a vote of the same Council where Russia itself has the right to veto as a permanent member

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However, Russian ambassador to the UN Nebenzia called the idea of ​​depriving Moscow of the right to preside over the Council “simply absurd”: “Russia is the continuator of the USSR, a subject of international law which has inherited not only the rights and obligations of its predecessor, but also its own legal character, officially recognized by the international community. Exclusion from the Council is impossible without changes to the UN Charter, just as it is impossible to deprive Russia of the right to chair the Council”

There was no lack of protests from Ukraine, who spoke of “a slap in the face”, “a blow to international relations”, “a shame”. Kiev also expressed concern. For the president Volodymyr Zelensky it is a “failure of the institution”, while the minister Kuleba urged the current members of the Council to oppose any Russian attempt to “abuse it”. The US has made it known that it cannot prevent Russia, a permanent member of the Council, from assuming this rolemostly procedural but with a strong symbolic value

The Italian Permanent Representative to the Palazzo di Vetro, the ambassador Maurizio Massari, recalled that “the monthly presidency is in the rules of the UN Security Council” and that, however, “the importance of the Russian month in the overall equation of the Ukrainian conflict should not be overestimated”

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