According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the US government does not see any legal means of denying Russia permanent membership in the UN Security Council (SC).
The United Nations Security Council will be presided over by Russia in April, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend several Security Council sessions.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said that “it is unpleasant to see Russia chair the Security Council”, but, according to her, this is “a largely ceremonial position, which month after month is transferred to the members of the Security Council in alphabetical order.”
“Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and there are no real international legal ways to change this situation,” she said at a briefing (quoted by TASS).
Washington fears that Moscow will continue to use the UN Security Council “to spread disinformation and try to divert attention” from military operations in Ukraine, the spokeswoman said. “A country that grossly violates the UN Charter and invades the territory of its neighbor has no place in the UN Security Council,” added Karine Jean-Pierre.
On April 10, the Russian delegation is expected to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council on the topic of risks associated with violations in the field of exports of military products. On April 25, Sergey Lavrov will chair a ministerial-level debate in the Security Council on the topic of resolving the situation in the Middle East.
Against the backdrop of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, some countries are calling for Russia to be excluded from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (in addition to the Russian Federation, China, the USA, France, and Great Britain are among them).
Ukraine believes that the Russian Federation became a member of the UN governmental body, bypassing the organization’s charter. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke in favor of suspending the membership of the Russian Federation, but not for its complete exclusion. The UN Secretary General’s office said that calls to exclude Russia “do not contribute to peace.”