(CNN) — A country run by an accused war criminal is run by the UN Security Council. Hard to believe, it is Russia’s turn to assume the presidency of the powerful body, which is charged with maintaining world peace and security.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described Russia taking over the council presidency as “the world’s worst April Fool’s Day prank.” Russia will assume the presidency of the UN Security Council on April 1 as its brutal invasion of Ukraine stretches out for a second year.
“The country that systematically violates all the fundamental rules of international security is presiding over a body whose sole mission is to safeguard and protect international security,” Kuleba said.
The presidency of the security council rotates alphabetically among its 15 member countries. The body is controlled by its five permanent members, including the United States and Russia.
The UN diplomatic corps is well aware of public skepticism about Russia leading the council while its troops occupy parts of Ukraine, another UN member country. Few remember that Russia was the last president of the council in February 2022, during the run-up to its invasion of Ukraine.
A Security Council president is supposed to remain neutral. But in its new role, Russia can maneuver meetings on Ukraine and use the month to portray the US and other Western countries as making false accusations against Russia.
Adding to the discomfort over Russia’s new role is the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin last month became the first head of state from a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in receive an arrest warrant, for an alleged plan to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Moscow has defended that the practice saves them and denies that the deportations are forced.
“It looks quite grotesque… it makes the council look bad,” Richard Gowan, head of the UN International Crisis Group, said of Russia’s takeover of the presidency.
Still, Russia’s supporters here at UN headquarters say they see historical parallels with the current situation, noting that the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, invaded Iraq in 2003 without council approval.
After all, the problem “is not the Russian presidency. It is Russian behavior in Ukraine,” a Security Council diplomat told CNN.
Can Russia be expelled?
Ukraine last year questioned whether Russia is entitled to its permanent seat on the council, pointing out in public meetings that Moscow received the presidency of the former Soviet Union without a vote in the early 1990s.
But is it possible to expel Russia from the Council or even the entire UN for its actions in Ukraine?
The UN charter, the foundation of the organization, does not make it easy to remove a permanent member of the Council. A Russian veto could easily keep their representatives at the council table forever.
“A country that flagrantly violates the UN charter and invades its smaller neighbor has no place on the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Council and there is no international legal path to change that reality,” a spokesperson for the US Mission to the UN told CNN.
All that can be done in the austere body is to challenge what Russia says there, something the United States has pledged to do. “We continue to expose their lies and bring credible voices, data and facts to the ground,” the US spokesperson said.
The longer the war drags on, the greater the pressure on Russia’s position in the UN. But like many of the meetings here, rhetoric is the main weapon.