US admits inability to strip Russia of permanent UNSC status
The US ambassador to the United Nations has admitted that she sees no way of barring Russia from its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) over the Ukraine conflict.
“The Russians have the permanent seat, and I don't see at the moment that there will be any changes in that, but we will continue in our efforts to isolate them,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield during an interview on Friday with government-sponsored broadcaster PBS.
Describing Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “particularly galling” given its status as a UNSC permanent member, she insisted that such status cannot easily be revoked despite demands from Ukraine’s Western-sponsored President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This is while US officials have repeatedly emphasized that Russia will remain a permanent member of the UNSC. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last month that Washington shares Zelensky's “frustration” over Moscow's status in the council but does not see it changing.
Her remarks followed the Ukrainian president’s address to the council, accusing the Russian military of committing “war crimes” in Ukraine and calling on the UNSC to either exclude Moscow or disband. Moscow has vehemently rejected Zelensky’s claims and has repeatedly accused Kiev forces of fabricating images of death and destruction in the country and blaming Russia for them.
The UNSC, whose purported responsibility is “the maintenance of international peace and security,” is the only UN body authorized to issue binding resolutions on member states.
Its five permanent members – the US, Britain, France, China and Russia – possess the veto power and can block any resolution according to their self-serving political interests and objectives.
The US itself remains infamous for abusing its own use of the veto power, often to block any condemnation of the Israeli regime’s atrocities against local Palestinians in occupied territories.
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