Russia has assumed this Saturday the presidency of UN Security Council monthly shift amid criticism from Ukraine and its allies, who remind Moscow of its repeated mockery of the international legal system. fits remember that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin remains wanted for war crimes.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged the members of the UN Security Council not to allow Russia to abuse the presidency. “Russian Chairmanship of the UN Security Council it is a slap in the face to the international community. I urge the current members of the UN Security Council to thwart any Russian attempt to abuse their presidency,” he wrote on Twitter. All this over the weekend that marks the first anniversary of the Bucha massacre.

Each of the 15 members that make up the Council -five permanent and 10 rotating- assume the presidency for one month. The last time Russia presided over the highest body The UN’s decisive decision was in February 2022, when it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It is the first time that the president of a country that presides over the Security Council has an international arrest warrant for war crimes. He International Criminal Court (ICC) issued the mandate last month for the forced deportation of minors from Ukrainian orphanages.

He presidential position does not grant special prerogativesalthough the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, has highlighted in statements to the Russian news agency TASS that he will allow them “supervise” certain debates, including that relating to arms control. Thus, they will raise the need for “a new world order” to “replace the unipolar order”.

Ukraine has insistently protestedbut the United States has responded that it cannot prevent Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council and with the right of veto, from assuming the post. United States, United Kingdom, France and China They also have the right of veto. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, has responded that “Unfortunately Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, so there is no practical way at the legal level to avoid that reality”. He has also warned that Moscow is going to “continue using his seat on the Council to spread disinformation” and justify their invasion of Ukraine.