UN Security Council President Russia: Furious Ukraine

The country, which launched the invasion of Ukraine, took over on Saturday (April 1). However, Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of war crimes and has an arrest warrant pending against him at the International Court of Justice.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits a Ukrainian border guard post near the Russian border. Picture of March 28

According to the report, Russia took over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday. The Security Council has a total of 15 member states including permanent and non-permanent members. Each member country holds the presidency for one month on a rotational basis. Russia will hold the presidency of the Security Council from April 1.

Russia previously chaired the Council in February 2022. And in the same month, the country launched an all-out attack on Ukraine. However, it is the responsibility of this organization of the United Nations to maintain world peace and fight against activities like international aggression.

"Unfortunately, we have ... obviously some absurd and devastating news," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday after Russian shelling killed a five-month-old baby boy last Friday.

He said, 'Russia is presiding over the UN Security Council. This is a move that is hard to imagine and the fact that such an institution is heading for complete bankruptcy is proof of that.'

According to Reuters, the Security Council has a total of 15 member states, including permanent and non-permanent members. Each member country holds the presidency for one month on a rotational basis. Although this is largely a procedural responsibility, the Kremlin and other Russian officials have pledged to 'exercise all rights' while serving as president.

Besides, the United States, another permanent member of the Security Council, could not prevent Russia from assuming the presidency, despite the objections of Ukraine. The country said that since Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, there was no way to prevent the country from taking this responsibility.

And so the United States called on Russia last Thursday to "behave professionally" while carrying out its duties.

Earlier, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes in Ukraine last March. The main accusation against Putin is that he illegally moved Ukrainian children to Russia.

The court says that this crime has been happening since the beginning of Russia's operation in Ukraine on February 24 last year. An arrest warrant has also been issued against Maria Elvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights of the Russian Presidential Office, on the same charge.

Basically, the International Criminal Court has judicial powers, but does not have the power to arrest any accused. What the ICC can do is to arrest the accused with the help of various countries and bring him to trial in The Hague, Netherlands after the arrest.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described Russia's presidency of the Security Council as a 'slap in the face of the international community'. On the other hand, Zelensky said, the time has come for change in global institutions, including the Security Council.

He said, 'Reforms are necessary to prevent a terrorist state and any other state that wants to be a terrorist from destroying the peace.'