Zelensky said Russia should be removed from its place as a permanent member of the Security Council, where it holds veto power, arguing that it was time to reform the global peace-keeping body.
“We are dealing with a state that is turning the veto in the UN Security Council into the right to die,” Zelensky said in his remarks. “This undermines the whole architecture of global security and allows them to go unpunished.”
“The main thing is today, it’s time to transform the system, the United Nations,” he told the Security Council.
Photos of civilians apparently killed by Russian troops in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha — including at least one person whose hands were tied behind the back — suggested Russian troops had indiscriminately shot and killed civilians during their occupation of the town.
Satellite images indicated that bodies had been left in the streets for weeks, contradicting Russian suggestions that the photos were staged.
The Ukrainian president’s speech was accompanied by a graphic video showing harrowing images of some of the carnage discovered in Ukrainian cities that were under Russian occupation.
Among the images included what appeared to be the body of a man at the bottom of a well, the unclothed body of a child who was blindfolded and lying on top of other dead bodies, charred bodies piled on top of each other and trenches filled with bodies.
There is no provision or mechanism to remove a permanent member of the Security Council written into the UN charter. The five permanent members are Russia, the United States., United Kingdom, France and China.
China has offered support for Russia before and during the invasion and would be unlikely to support removing Russia from the Security Council.
If Russia is not removed from the council, Zelensky said the body should just be dissolved.
“If there is no alternative and no option, then the next option would be dissolve yourself altogether,” he said.
