The United Nations has launched a practical initiative to automatically convene the General Assembly whenever a veto is used in the Security Council. Such a resolution was supported by almost 40 countries, including Ukraine.
This is reported by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Serhiy Kyslytsya.
The essence of the initiative is aimed at increasing the role of the UN General Assembly, strengthening multilateralism and ensuring a mechanism of accountability between the UN bodies in accordance with the Charter of the Organization, the diplomat said.
Kislitsa also pointed out that the resolution was supported by the United States, which itself has the right of veto.
The draft resolution is expected to be approved in April.
Kislitsa explained that such automatic convocation of the General Assembly, when the veto will be used in the Council, will be carried out within 10 days "in order to hold a debate on the situation in which the veto is used, except when the issue is considered at the Extraordinary Special Session of the UNGA."
The Ukrainian diplomat reminded that the right of veto was first used in the UNSC in 1957 by the USSR, and now "the absolute champion in the number of vetoes" is the Russian Federation. At the same time Great Britain does not use the right of veto for more than 30 years.
"According to the draft resolution, the Council will be asked to submit a special report to the General Assembly on the use of the veto at least 72 hours before the meeting of the General Assembly, which will be able to decide on this situation, if there is a collective political will of UN member states. The said mechanism will take effect immediately after the approval of the resolution at the 76th session, and starting from the 77th session, a new permanent item "Use of veto" will be added to the agenda of the General Assembly," Kislitsa explains.
We shall remind you that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier called on the UN to deprive Russia of its veto right in the Security Council or to dissolve itself. The head of state also stressed that Russia had turned its veto right in the UN Security Council "into the right of death".
