KYIV – Ukraine on Saturday branded Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of April “a slap in the face”, joining a chorus of outrage from Western countries.
Moscow assumes the presidency as part of its monthly rotation between the Security Council’s 15 member states, with ties with the West at their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia’s tenure was “a slap in the face to the international community”.
“I urge the current UNSC members to thwart any Russian attempts to abuse its presidency,” he said on Twitter, calling Russia “an outlaw on the UNSC”.
Moscow last chaired the council in February 2022, the same month it invaded Ukraine – prompting Kyiv to call for Russia’s removal from the council.
Russia will hold little influence on decisions but will be in charge of the agenda.
Meanwhile, protesters faced off outside a historic monastery in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday after the home of a leading clergyman was raided by the security services.
Metropolitan Pavlo of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links with Moscow despite renouncing them, was called in for questioning on charges of inciting religious hatred.
The SBU security service said Pavlo is suspected of “justifying and denying the aggression by the Russian army against Ukraine and of glorifying its members” as well as “violating the equality of citizens on racial, national, regional and religious grounds”.
Moscow has said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is planning to chair a UN Security Council meeting this month on “effective multilateralism”.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said that Lavrov would lead a debate on the Middle East on April 25.
In New York, a UN Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “In the case of abuse by the presidency, we will certainly react.”
However, “this is not the point. The point is the war in Ukraine and making sure that we put this to an end.”
‘Insecurity Council’
The United States has also criticised Russia’s membership of the Security Council and its status as a permanent member.
“A country that flagrantly violates the UN Charter and invades its neighbour has no place on the UN Security Council,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
“Unfortunately Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” she added, calling the presidency “a largely ceremonial position”.
The Baltic states also expressed their concern.
Estonia’s UN envoy Rein Tammsaar, speaking also on behalf of Latvia and Lithuania, warned the Security Council Friday as it met to discuss Russia’s plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.
“Isn’t it telling that tomorrow, on the anniversary of the Bucha massacre, Russia will assume the Presidency of the UN Security Council?
“This is shameful, humiliating and dangerous to the credibility and effective functioning of this body,” he said.
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis mockingly congratulated Russia on assuming the presidency.
“Looking forward to some energetic discussions on Ukraine’s proposal for the destination of your warships,” he wrote on Saturday.
The strategic communications division of the Lithuanian foreign ministry tweeted meanwhile that “Russia, waging a brutal war against Ukraine, can only lead #InsecurityCouncil”.
In an interview with AFP on Thursday, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she expected Russia to behave “professionally” in the presidency, but expressed doubts.
“We also expect that they will also seek opportunities to advance their disinformation campaign against Ukraine, the United States and all of our allies,” she said.
“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 violations” in Ukraine.
“The law and the responsibility for violating it are the same for everyone and a cassock is no guarantee of pure intentions,” SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk said in a statement, accusing Russia of using religion “to promote propaganda and divide Ukrainian society”.
The SBU said it had raided the home of Pavlo, who was later taken to court for a hearing to decide whether or not he should be detained, an AFP reporter saw.
The hearing was initially adjourned as Pavlo complained of health issues but later resumed, with the court ordering a 60-day house arrest.
He will have to wear an electronic surveillance device and “refrain from communicating with witnesses” as the inquiry continues, it said.
Eviction threat
The development comes three days after the expiry of a deadline for an eviction order from Ukrainian authorities for the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who live in a part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery.
The monks have said they will stay as long as possible at the site, an ancient golden-domed complex overlooking the Dnipro River that is the country’s most significant Orthodox monastery.
Dozens of Church supporters, including clergymen, could be seen outside the monastery on Saturday, waving religious symbols and praying in front of a small group of opponents.
The Pechersk monastery and other Church premises were raided last year by security services over suspected links to Russian agents.
The country also has an Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a separate institution that is entirely independent from Moscow.
In a video statement broadcast by Ukrainian media earlier on Saturday, Pavlo denied supporting the Russian invasion.
“They say I support the aggression of Russia against Ukraine. I have said, I say and I will say: I condemn all attacks on our state and what Russia and (President Vladimir) Putin have done is unjustifiable,” he said.