As Ukraine marked the first anniversary of the massacre of Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield argued that Russia “should not to be a permanent member of the United Nations. Security Council in an interview with AFP.
“Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. It shouldn’t be, because of what it is doing in Ukraine, but the [UN] charter does not allow its permanent membership to be changed,” Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday from Costa Rica, where she was attending a democracy summit.
Russia is also expected to assume the rotating presidency of the Security Council on Saturday for a month.
The US ambassador said she expected Russia to behave “professionally” during her presidency, but also expressed doubts, saying Washington believed Moscow would “seek opportunities to advance its campaign of disinformation against Ukraine, the United States and all our allies”.
“At every opportunity, we will raise our concerns about Russia’s actions,” she added, reiterating Washington’s condemnation of Moscow’s “war crimes and human rights abuses” in Ukraine.