Zelenski proposes measures to limit Russia’s power at UN Security Council

United Nations, Sep 20 (EFE).- The president of Ukraine, Volodymir Zelenski, proposed Wednesday at the UN Security Council several “specific measures” to limit Russia’s power in the organization as a permanent member of the Council with veto power.

Zelenski proposed that, given the difficulty of reforming the UN bodies’ structure, the right of veto be circumvented in the following way: each time a state applies it, the issue comes to the General Assembly, which could override it with a qualified majority.

In addition, he proposed that a state be suspended from the Security Council for a while “when it resorts to aggression against another nation in violation of the founding charter of the UN.”

These reforms could lead the UN out of the “impasse on aggression” in which the organization finds itself, even though the General Assembly has recognized by a vast majority that Russia is the aggressor on this occasion.

This situation has meant that “humanity no longer puts its hopes in the UN when defending the sovereign borders of nations.”

The war has shown that there are “574 reasons” to undertake this reform, as many as the number of days the invasion of his country lasts.

In addition to these proposals, Zelenski joined the increasingly widespread call for a reformed composition of the Security Council that better reflects the representation of the world, citing, in particular, the need for Germany, India, Japan, the Arab world, and Latin America to have a permanent seat.

Unlike yesterday, when he addressed the General Assembly, Zelenski chose to speak in his language today and had to wait more than 20 minutes for the Council presidency to settle Russian procedural protests, as has happened on the five previous occasions that the Council has invited Zelenski to speak by videoconference.

There was anticipation to hear the alleged details he promised to give yesterday about his Peace Formula. Still, in the end, there were no significant developments: he reiterated that only Russia’s complete withdrawal from Ukrainian territory (including military units and mercenaries) and the “full restoration” of Ukrainian sovereignty, also over the Black Sea, could lead to the “cessation of hostilities.”

Finally, the Ukrainian leader said he was ready to hold “ten conferences of advisors according to the ten points of the Peace Formula” and maintain a summit of “all the nations of the world” to carry out his plan.

In his address to the Council, the Ukrainian President was surrounded by the ministers or representatives of the 27 members of the European Union plus other candidate states in a demonstration that the continent is united with Ukraine. EFE

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