Since 1991, Russia has taken a seat on the UN Security Council that once belonged to the USSR.. But it is obvious to any lawyer in the world that this is illegal,” said Volodymyr Yelchenko, former permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, during a discussion at the Atlantic Council..

He noted that there are several options to deprive Russia of a seat in the Security Council.. However, most of them, in his opinion, are not very realistic.. For example, one could try to do this through a vote in the UN General Assembly, where each country has only one vote and no one has the right to veto. However, he noted that in this case, one would have to wait for the ratification of the decision in the parliaments of each participating country.. And this is not a very realistic way.. Therefore, according to Yelchenko, the best way is legal, for example, through the Security Council Committee for Credentials.

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Yelchenko noted that there is China in the Security Council, which supports Russia in voting. However, according to the former permanent representative of Ukraine, Beijing will not put up much resistance to attempts to exclude Russia from the UN Security Council..

“Given how China got its seat in the Security Council, I don’t think it will resist much. China is now more interested in maintaining economic relations with the West, and not only with the United States, but also with Japan, South Korea, and other major economies in the world.. I don’t think that in this case, China will strongly resist these efforts, risking only to support Russia,” the Ukrainian diplomat said..