Headline Roundup • April 3rd, 2023
Russia Assumes Presidency of UN Security Council
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Russia has become president of the council for April.
The Details: The presidency has drawn stark reactions from Ukrainian and Western officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is a testament to the “total bankruptcy of such institutions.” Because of Russia’s standing as a permanent member, they are unable to be removed from the council. However, one legal group is preparing a challenge regardless.
For Context: Each of the council’s 15 members rotate the presidency for a month at a time. The last Russian presidency was in February 2022. Russia enjoys permanent member status alongside Great Britain, France, China, and the U.S.
Key Quotes: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” and urged Moscow to “conduct itself professionally.” Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., Dmitry Polyansky, said, “we will act as an honest broker, just like we did in February 2022, when our presidency coincided with the beginning of the special operation,” and that “the collective West seeks to replace international law with ‘rule-based order’.”
How The Media Covered It: The story was more widely covered by left-rated sources. Western media across the spectrum amplified Ukraine’s frustrations, as well as Karine Jean-Pierre’s statements. The Epoch Times was one of few sources to also include comments from other Western partners and Russian officials.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
On April Fools’ Day, the Russian Federation assumed presidency of the United Nations Security Council as it wages war on Ukraine, in what Ukraine’s president said showed its “total bankruptcy.”
Russia last took the chair of the intergovernmental body, which is tasked with maintaining peace and combating acts of international aggression, in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of neighboring Ukraine in violation of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter.
On April 1, as Russia assumed charge of the council, Putin stands accused by the International Criminal Court...
Reuters
Russia has taken the presidency of the UN Security Council despite Ukraine urging members to block the move.
Each of the council's 15 members takes up the presidency for a month, on a rotating pattern.
The last time Russia had the presidency, February 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It means the Security Council is being led by a country whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
The International Criminal Court - which is not a UN institution - issued the warrant for...
Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images
A top Ukrainian official has criticised the “symbolic blow” of Russia assuming the rotating presidency of the United Nations security council.
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, wrote on Twitter on Saturday: “It’s not just a shame. It is another symbolic blow to the rules-based system of international relations.”
Russia on Saturday took over the presidency of the UN’s top security body, which rotates every month.
The last time Moscow held the post was in February 2022, when its troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
On Friday the...
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