UN says expelling Russia from Security Council “not the right step” and calls for “diplomacy”

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The United Nations Secretary General has said that a possible expulsion of Russia from the UN Security Council “is not the right step” in the face of tensions arising from the invasion of Ukraine and stressed that “more diplomacy is needed.”

“I think the secretary general (António Guterres) has said in the past (…) that expelling countries from a global forum is not really the right step when we are talking about the need for more diplomacy,” said UN Secretary General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.

Thus, he has stressed that the UN organs “will take the decisions they think they have to take in line with their procedures.” “I think it is a reminder to the world of the dangerous situation in which we find ourselves. It is a reminder of the need for all member states to respect international law,” he argued.

Dujarric stressed that Guterres “has conveyed his concerns to Russia” regarding the proceedings on the possible annexation of four Ukrainian regions – the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as Kherson and Zaporiyia – scheduled for Friday.

Guterres himself warned Moscow on Thursday that this annexation “has no place in the modern world” and “cannot be accepted,” given that it contravenes both Ukraine’s legal framework and international law. Thus, he has warned that the “so-called referendums” on which this step is based lack legitimacy.

In response, Russia’s permanent mission to the UN has criticized Guterres, accusing him of maintaining a “double standard” for a “direct attack on the fundamental right of self-determination expressed by the population of the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporiyia regions.