Russia accidentally ended up in the UN Security Council, but it is almost impossible to kick it out of there/”Word and deed”

Getting Russia a seat in the UN Security Council became possible primarily because there is no mechanism for the succession of the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Read more in the exclusive blog for the Channel 24 website.

A random “guest” has taken root

When the UN Charter was written, we did not imagine that a situation would arise in which one of Member States (USSR – Channel 24) will break up into several parts. And they did not provide a mechanism for determining which of the newly formed states should receive this status.

In 1991, when the countries of the Soviets were disintegrating, they made a political decision that Russia should receive the status of a permanent member state instead of the USSR. There were also political arguments that this particular country possesses the Soviet nuclear arsenal and is the largest republic in terms of area and population of the former Soviet Union. At the same time, there were no objections from other former Soviet republics, including Ukraine.

A problem without a solution

The question of the legitimacy of Russia's permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 8 years now has again become relevant and is being discussed in the Ukrainian and international expert community. But there were no practical initiatives in this direction, only political declarations.

We are not talking about the real possibility of depriving Moscow of this status. It can really lose it only if Russia itself collapses, or if the United Nations itself ceases its activities.

A legal mechanism that would allow Russia to be deprived of its status can only be developed through amendments to the UN Charter, according to its article 109. Even if this process is started, the corresponding decision must be approved by all permanent members of the UN Security Council. There, in addition to Russia, there is also China, which is also unlikely to support such a turn of events.

All these attempts will have political significance, but will not have a practical effect. This should be acknowledged. They are worth discussing, calling into question the legitimacy of Russia's international position. However, there is no need to have any hopes for success.