I think Russia sees veto power as a tool to further its narrow agenda.
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The United States has warned that Russia’s continued blanket use of its UN veto will jeopardise the security council’s long-term legitimacy and could lead the US and like-minded countries to bypass it as a decision-making body.
The warning comes as the UN reaches its 70th anniversary and the security council faces a crisis caused by its paralysis over Syria. It has failed to agree concerted action to try to stem the bloodshed, even after more than 220,000 Syrians have died and more than 11 million have been forced from their homes.
Russia has used its veto powers four times to block resolutions on Syria that Moscow sees as damaging to its ally, the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It has also forestalled common action on Ukraine where it is a party to the conflict, having annexed Crimea and pursued a covert military campaign in support of eastern separatists.
Samantha Power, the US permanent representative to the UN, said that the US and other countries had increasingly been going elsewhere to have atrocities investigated, and that a “forum-shopping” trend was likely to continue.
“It’s a Darwinian universe here. If a particular body reveals itself to be dysfunctional, then people are going to go elsewhere,” Power told the Guardian. “And if that happened for more than Syria and Ukraine and you started to see across the board paralysis ... it would certainly jeopardise the security council’s status and credibility and its function as a go-to international security arbiter. It would definitely jeopardise that over time.”
Power was one of seven ambassadors to the UN who gave their views on the plight and future of the security council, at a time when it is being assailed on all sides, not just for its failures over Syria and Ukraine, but on broader and longer-term issues such as the fairness and relevance of its structure in the 21st century, and the veto rights of the five permanent members.
Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador, said: “Syria is a stain on the conscience of the security council. I think it is the biggest failure in recent years, and it undoubtedly has consequences for the standing of the security council and indeed the United Nations as a whole.”
The US has used its veto three times in the past decade, to shield Israel from rebuke for its actions in the Palestinian territories. China has used six vetoes, each time in tandem with Russia, while Moscow has used its the veto 10 times over the same period. Since 1991, when Russia took over the Soviet seat on the council, it is the US that has been more prolific with its veto, using it 14 times (almost always to defend Israel from censure), compared to 13 Russian vetoes, and eight used by China.
Russian vetoes are putting UN security council's legitimacy at risk, says US
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The United States has warned that Russia’s continued blanket use of its UN veto will jeopardise the security council’s long-term legitimacy and could lead the US and like-minded countries to bypass it as a decision-making body.
The warning comes as the UN reaches its 70th anniversary and the security council faces a crisis caused by its paralysis over Syria. It has failed to agree concerted action to try to stem the bloodshed, even after more than 220,000 Syrians have died and more than 11 million have been forced from their homes.
Russia has used its veto powers four times to block resolutions on Syria that Moscow sees as damaging to its ally, the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It has also forestalled common action on Ukraine where it is a party to the conflict, having annexed Crimea and pursued a covert military campaign in support of eastern separatists.
Samantha Power, the US permanent representative to the UN, said that the US and other countries had increasingly been going elsewhere to have atrocities investigated, and that a “forum-shopping” trend was likely to continue.
“It’s a Darwinian universe here. If a particular body reveals itself to be dysfunctional, then people are going to go elsewhere,” Power told the Guardian. “And if that happened for more than Syria and Ukraine and you started to see across the board paralysis ... it would certainly jeopardise the security council’s status and credibility and its function as a go-to international security arbiter. It would definitely jeopardise that over time.”
Power was one of seven ambassadors to the UN who gave their views on the plight and future of the security council, at a time when it is being assailed on all sides, not just for its failures over Syria and Ukraine, but on broader and longer-term issues such as the fairness and relevance of its structure in the 21st century, and the veto rights of the five permanent members.
Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador, said: “Syria is a stain on the conscience of the security council. I think it is the biggest failure in recent years, and it undoubtedly has consequences for the standing of the security council and indeed the United Nations as a whole.”
The US has used its veto three times in the past decade, to shield Israel from rebuke for its actions in the Palestinian territories. China has used six vetoes, each time in tandem with Russia, while Moscow has used its the veto 10 times over the same period. Since 1991, when Russia took over the Soviet seat on the council, it is the US that has been more prolific with its veto, using it 14 times (almost always to defend Israel from censure), compared to 13 Russian vetoes, and eight used by China.
Russian vetoes are putting UN security council's legitimacy at risk, says US
