Zelenskyy proposes UN reform to overcome Russia's veto

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during his speech to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, presented proposals for reforming the UN, primarily to prevent situations where permanent members of the Security Council can block any decisions.

Source: European Pravda 

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the work of the UN is currently paralysed precisely because Russia, as the aggressor state, is blocking any decisions, as it has a veto as a permanent member of the Security Council.

Quote: "The veto in the hands of the aggressor is what has driven the UN into a dead end."

"The use of the veto is what needs to be reformed, and it could be a key reform. One that restores the power of the UN Charter."

More details: As a first step towards reforming the UN, Zelenskyy proposed giving the UN General Assembly a real opportunity to override vetoes, provided that two-thirds of the votes reflect the will of the nations from Asia, Africa, Europe, both Americas and the Pacific.

The second step towards UN reform, he said, was to expand the permanent membership of the Security Council to include states from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific. Among European countries, he mentioned Germany.

The third step in the reform of the Organisation, the president named the creation of a system of preventing aggression through preventive sanctions, which should be automatically submitted to the UN Security Council "when any member of the General Assembly declares a threat of aggression".

Background:

The issue of reforming the UN Security Council is particularly acute given Russia’s full-scale invasion, since Russia can use its veto to block any decisions that will hold it accountable for violating international law.

The United States is known to have begun drafting a proposal to reform the UN Security Council, which would expand its membership to better represent the regions of the world, but without the veto power.

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