The permanent members of the UN Security Council are neither ready to start a political discussion on the topic of depriving the Russian Federation of all powers, nor to take practical steps towards this.
Achievements of Ukraine in the UN in 2023
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsia, told Voice of America in an interview that 2023 has become one of the most challenging periods for the United Nations since its foundation.
Not so long ago, I attended a meeting of French-speaking ambassadors with the UN Secretary General. And he said that the system, which was created in 1945, does not function in the current conditions, and there is a need to reform it. But, according to the Secretary General, it is necessary to preserve the principles that were established during the creation of the UN.
Kyslytsia considers an essential achievement of Ukraine at the UN that the peace formula, which was put forward by the President of Ukraine and voiced at the meeting of the Security Council and the General Assembly, is gradually gaining substance.
Work was also underway to oust the Russian Federation from a number of key UN bodies and structures. It is very important that it was possible to prevent Belarus from being elected to the Security Council. After all, in fact, Belarus is a country colonized by the Russian Federation, so its election to the Security Council would double the Russian Federation's vote in the Security Council.
Finding alternative candidates took a long time, but Slovenia put forward its candidacy and, in the end, was elected.
Also, the Russian Federation was "kicked out of the UN International Court of Justice", expelled from the UNESCO executive board, from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and it could not win elections to the UN Economic and Social Council.
The UN Security Council could not make any decision regarding Ukraine
At the same time, the UN Security Council was unable to change the situation or make any substantive decision regarding the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine.
The main reason is that the member states of the Security Council, and above all the permanent members of the Security Council, continue to stand on the position that the Russian Federation is a full and full member of the Security Council. They allow the Russian Federation to use the right of veto. They are not ready not only for practical steps to deprive the Russian Federation of all powers, but they are not even ready to start a political discussion about it.
Kyslytsia notes that even about the conflict in Gaza, the Security Council managed to pass a decision on the opening of new humanitarian crossings, and the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine remains almost the only one where there are no solutions.
