War against Ukraine: Don’t expect Russia out of the UNSC, says US
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Russia may have been suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its invasion of Ukraine and violation of human rights there, but it will remain a member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and also keep a veto power as one of its founding members.
A day after Moscow’s suspension from the UNHCR, the White House on Friday said it does not expect the same treatment for Russia in the UNSC where it is a veto-wielding Permanent Member.
“I know a question has been asked about whether we should kick Russia out of being a permanent member. We don’t expect that to happen”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news briefing, the media reported.
But Moscow’s suspension from the UNHRC shows the global response and horror at the atrocities seen in Ukraine. “However, beyond that, I don’t have any other predictions”, she said.
“We know there were abstentions, and only 24 countries, including North Korea, voted with Russia. But the outcome, which is what is most important to us, is what we wanted, which is that Russia has been suspended from the UNHRC,” she said.
Suspension is the only punishment provided for in the UN resolution that established the Human Rights Council in 2005.
She said the suspension had so far been applied only once, in Libya. This is only the second time a country has been suspended, she said.
Over two-thirds of the UNHCR member countries believe Russia should not have a leadership role in the global human rights body as it subverted and violated those rights, she said.
This also means that a suspended Russia cannot vote against future actions during subsequent UNHCR sessions.
According to Psaki, the US-led global sanctions are having a ‘tremendous impact on the Russian economy.
“We are seeing an inflationary rate of about 15 percent, a projection of a contraction of 15 percent in the Russian economy. Six hundred private sector companies have left Russia. We know it is having the impact that the world intended. This is the most significant coordinated set of sanctions ever done in history on this large of an economy. The third objective here is to make it much more difficult for President Putin to fund his war,” she added.
