Russia is abusing its position on the United Nations Security Council, but removing Russia as a permanent member is not on the table, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that Moscow be stripped of its seat on the key UN body.
“We don’t see that happening,” Psaki said when asked about Zelensky’s idea during a briefing at the White House. “We certainly understand – you know, (Russia) has a permanent seat on the Security Council,” she said, RT reported.
“Of course, that is why it is so particularly disturbing that Russia, given its particular responsibility for upholding the UN Charter, is actively subverting the Charter and abusing its position,” she said.
Russia, along with China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with veto power over the body’s resolutions. Last week, Moscow used this right to obstruct an American-sponsored draught condemning Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
Psaki has once again rejected Zelensky’s call for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. President Joe Biden, she explained, has been hesitant to make such a move because “it would require, essentially, the US military shooting down Russian planes and causing a – prompting a potential direct war with Russia, something – the exact step that we want to avoid”.
