There is no mechanism to expel Russia from UN – Zénon Kowal

Russia has become the head of the UN Security Council. How can this harm Ukraine?

Well, we have no way to expel Russia from the Security Council. We have no way to expel Russia from the UN as such, because in order to do it, we would also need the consent of the Security Council, which, as you can imagine, is impossible because Russia has a veto power. So the only way to deal with the Russian presidency, and we know that Russia will be presiding over the Security Council for a month, is to be prepared, and I hope that not only the Ukrainian mission is prepared for this Russian presidency, but everybody else is as well. Because we know that Russia can, I would say, continue to give certain instructions or manipulate certain agenda items so that their views prevail, or even to raise a topic of interest to Russia in a way that would justify Russia for certain facts that are not very, I would say, favorable for Russia in relation to the UN.

Why is the United Nations viewed by the Russian Federation only as a platform for propaganda and disinformation? 

At the moment, the UN and other associated organizations, such as UNESCO, UNICEF and others, are the only platform common to everyone in the world. And if Russia can use it to promote its interests, then we, Ukrainians, or Ukraine's allies, should use it to show the contradictions of Russia in what it thinks, what it says, and what it does. So, it is a platform that we can also use, and it is very important because it is the only platform where we can talk to all the nations of the world.

Do we have mechanisms to exclude the Russian Federation from the United Nations as the world's largest organization?

As I mentioned, we would need a UN decision, as well as a recommendation from the Security Council. And you know that the Security Council consists of 15 members: five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, who are elected for two years and five of them change every year. So, to get such a recommendation from the Security Council, we need Russia to agree to the recommendation, but Russia will never agree to a recommendation that recommends the expulsion of Russia. So, there is no way out.

But still, 49 countries condemned Russia for organizing a UN Security Council meeting dedicated to the alleged legal grounds for abducting Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories. So what do we need to kick Russia out of all global platforms? Russia has crossed all the red lines that were established after World War II.

I agree, but we cannot exclude Russia. We have to confront Russia. And since Ukraine is a state governed by the rule of law, we must use all the means that we have and that the law gives us to confront Russia. We know that the International Criminal Court has issued a mandate for the arrest of President Putin, as well as the ombudsman who deals with children's rights in Russia. These are concrete elements that we can use to expose Russia's position, so we have to participate in the debates that Russia is organizing to make it clear that Russia is not a reliable partner. Because they say one thing, but they don't respect international law, they say one thing and do another. How can we trust someone who is constantly deceiving?