Faced with continuing atrocities perpetrated at the command of dictator Vladimir Putin, the United Nations ought to take the Ukrainian ambassador’s advice: expel Russia from the Security Council and suspend it from the organization as a whole.
As the war began three weeks ago, those were the suggestions by Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N. He argued that Security Council membership, which provides Russia a veto over U.N. collective action, was never transmitted to Russia from the old Soviet Union. He said Russia’s warring aggression puts it in violation of the U.N. Charter, making it no longer a “legitimate” member of the whole body.
Even those of us with no admiration for the U.N. and little appreciation for its legal intricacies should see the ambassador’s claims are at least plausible and certainly well within the spirit of the U.N.’s mission. The very first line of its “Purposes and Principles” proclaims its devotion “to maintain[ing] international peace and security,” and, from the Preamble, to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” The Principles denounce all actions that violate “the territorial integrity” of any nation.
Wise diplomats will take the opportunity, when it arises, to use to positive effect even an oft-useless (and sometimes counterproductive) organization.
The goal here is not to get bogged down in technicalities. The objective is to isolate Russia. Putin’s Russia is already de facto an international pariah. Let’s make it official. Every signal should be sent, every step taken, to make clear Russia is not just fighting Ukraine and not just at odds with the nations of NATO. Instead, its criminal and crime-filled invasion of Ukraine is opposed by virtually the entire world.
Information matters. Messages matter. Truth matters.
First, while the bloodthirsty Putin may not care, a number of his generals and oligarchs actually may be aghast to find Russia so outcast — and not just by European nations that control significant international financing but also by the nations of the world acting as one.
Second, the Russian population needs to hear this message. Right now, Putin’s propaganda machine has convinced a broad swath of ordinary Russians that their nation has not invaded, much less indiscriminately bombarded, Ukraine. The more the truth is proclaimed, the better chance it reaches more Russians and forces constructive action. One need only remember the stories of Natan Sharansky and other human-rights activists about how, even while languishing in GULAG, they were joyfully inspired by President Ronald Reagan speaking truth to evil Soviet power. Truth turns hearts in good directions.
Although symbolism is important, eviction from the Security Council and suspension from the General Assembly is more than just a symbolic gesture. If, for whatever reason, the world’s nations do decide to take collective action against Russia — whether it’s military, diplomatic, or economic — while speaking as one body under the auspices of the U.N., they must be rid of the Russian “veto” to do it. And, for some nations, it helps to justify such action to their own people if they act under the U.N. banner.
Russian diplomats and generals also know the patina of collective action under an established international body helps enable otherwise skittish nations to join an anti-Russian effort. The more that people around Putin can be dissuaded from continuing the current terror, the better chance some coalition of such people can stop Putin from further harm or wrest the reins of power from him.
To suspend Russia from the U.N. now would be appropriate and perhaps materially helpful. Let’s do it.
