- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ |
Lacking other options, UN Security Council takes watchdog role in Ukraine war
Unable to assure global peace, the UN Security Council is consigned to a watchdog role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with little else to do but set more urgent sessions this week on the crisis.
After five meetings since Russia's invasion of its eastern European neighbor on February 24, the 15-member council will gather again on Monday for two sessions on humanitarian aid -- one public and one behind closed doors.
"Exposing the situation in the Security Council, even if you know that the outcome is going to be stopped through a veto, is still worthwhile," said the European Union's ambassador to the UN, Olof Skoog.
"Pressure" is the aim, several council members told AFP, with representatives even vying to call for sessions. The United States and Albania joined together to convene the first meeting on the conflict, while France and Mexico are pushing for a resolution, though its future is unclear.
With its veto power, Russia -- one of the five permanent members of the council that also includes 10 other members elected for two years -- has the power to block any declaration or resolution.
As the founding document of the organization established after World War II, the UN Charter cannot oust one of the five permanent members even if the state violates the body's fundamental principle of not resorting to violence to resolve a crisis -- as Russia stands accused of doing.
However, the charter does provide for cases in which the Security Council can take action.
Article 27 stipulates that a council member can abstain from voting when it is party to a conflict on which there is a vote. In practice, this doesn't always happen.
Russia has never abstained from a vote on Syria -- deploying its veto some 15 times in 10 years -- nor has the United States or Britain on Iraq, France on Mali or the United Arab Emirates over Yemen.
"There has not been any real appetite to go after" Article 27, said a Western ambassador on condition of anonymity.
- 'Privilege' of permanence -
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently said that expelling Russia from the Security Council figures among the "options."
But in reality, "no," it's not on the table, said another diplomat, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Article 6 of the UN Charter says if a member "has persistently violated the Principles" of the document, it "may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council."
Therein lies the issue: veto-wielding Russia will never recommend its own expulsion to the 193-member General Assembly.
Such an attempt has only been made once in the history of the global body, in 1974, when several countries urged the Security Council to exclude South Africa, according to SC Procedure, a specialized news outlet.
The resolution received 10 votes in favor, but France, Britain and the United States vetoed, it added.
The permanent members, which also include China, sometimes "have each other's back," the Western ambassador said.
"They don't agree with all substance always, but they do agree that the privilege is something that sets them a little bit above the rest of us."
Under the impetus of the EU, the General Assembly -- where there are no vetoes -- had looked to succeed where the Security Council failed by adopting a resolution condemning Russia on March 2.
A record 141 countries from across every continent approved the non-binding text, with just five in opposition: Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, Syria and North Korea.
Beyond the council and the assembly, the UN has deployed other wings to try to help mitigate the fallout of the war.
The UN humanitarian affairs agency OCHA, the refugees body UNHCR and the World Food Programme have stepped up responses to the crisis, while the Human Rights Council recently backed the creation of an international commission of inquiry into abuses in Ukraine.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who has long denounced the "dysfunction" of global governance, is working behind the scenes but to little avail so far, having offered mediation to Russia, which rebuffed any idea of the secretary-general going to Moscow, according to an official.
F.Pedersen--AMWN