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Zelenskyy urges UN to reform its system to strip Russia of its veto

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the United Nations on Tuesday to reform its system which gives Security Council permanent member Russia a veto. He suggested that the organisation should either expel Russia or dissolve itself. Zelenskyy also called for a war crimes tribunal to be established, like the one operating during the Nuremberg trials.

Russia had turned its veto right into the right to kill, which undermines the whole architecture of global security, President Zelenskyy stated during his Tuesday address to the UN Security Council via video link. He questioned the value of the 15-member UN Security Council, which has been unable to take any action over Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine because Moscow is a veto power, along with the United States, France, Britain and China.

Zelenskyy called for a conference devoted to the reform of the global security system to be held in Kyiv – similar to the 1945 San Francisco conference, during which the United Nations was founded. He added that the UN Security Council should either expel Russia or dissolve itself.

⚡️ Zelensky addresses UN Security Council: Russia uses veto as a weapon, UN system must be transformed.

He said that the UN had failed to provide security in the world and called for reforming the organization, restoring the “strength of the UN Charter.”

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 5, 2022
The Ukrainian President also postulated that a war crimes tribunal, modelled after the one operating in Nuremberg after World War II, be established in order to prosecute the atrocities committed by the Russian army.

In a passionate speech, Zelenskyy described in detail grim scenes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, saying Moscow wanted to turn Ukraine into “silent slaves.” He added that similar crimes had been committed near Chernihiv, Mariupol and Kharkiv, among other places. He also stated that Russia’s response to the accusations would be to shift the blame, claiming that there were too many versions of events and uncovering the truth would be impossible.

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