Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the U.S. Representative to the United Nations. In this hybrid briefing joined by United States Bureau Chief OLUKOREDE YISHAU, Thomas-Greenfield sheds light on the latest on the Russian-Ukrainian war, the United States’ proposals for reforms in the United Nations and others. Excerpts:
Reforming the UN
We’ve been having a discussion around reforming the UN for the past couple of weeks. As you know, I gave a speech in San Francisco a week or so before High-Level Week. President Biden also addressed this issue in his statement before the General Assembly.
We do think that UN reform would entail Security Council reform. It would mean having the Security Council more broadly representative, having more members of the Security Council. As President Biden noted, we should have African permanent members of the Security Council, permanent members of the Security Council from Latin America, and we need to increase the number of non-permanent members of the Security Council.
Two, Security Council and UN reform would involve how we address issues of the veto. And one of those actions taken just recently was the Lichtenstein resolution that calls for Security Council members to come to the General Assembly to explain their use of the veto. And Russia has had to do that several times over the past few months and including their most recent veto where we’re now looking at bringing that resolution that they vetoed for a vote in the Security Council itself – I mean, sorry, on the General Assembly on Wednesday.
One of the things we call for is that countries be sparing in their use of the veto and only use the veto when considered absolutely necessary.
Russia’s latest assault
In response to the illegal sham referenda and Russia’s attempted annexations of Ukrainian territory, the Secretary-General made a striking statement. He said, and I quote, “The UN Charter is clear: Any annexation of a state or territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the UN Charter and international law,” unquote.
These were the words of the Secretary-General of the United Nations – not the United States, not the European Union or a European country. It was the words coming from the Secretary-General. They unequivocally outlined what’s at stake here. The Secretary-General’s words demonstrate that this vote is not a great power battle or a fight between Security Council members. This is about something much larger than any one country – something larger than even a group of countries. This is about defending the United Nations. It’s about defending the UN Charter that all UN Member States signed onto.
On September 30, we saw Russia once again try to shield itself from accountability and responsibility by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution condemning its sham referenda and annexation attempts. Not a single country – not a single country other than Russia – voted against this resolution. Not one. As I promised at the time, we are not letting Russia’s veto stop us from pursuing accountability. So, we have brought this issue to the General Assembly, where every country, large or small, Security Council member or not, has a vote.
Yesterday, the president of the General Assembly reconvened the Emergency Special Session on Ukraine to address Russia’s illegal and fraudulent attempt to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. The European Union, on behalf of a cross-regional drafting group of several dozen UN member states, drafted a resolution in the UN General Assembly that condemns Russia’s actions as a clear violation of the UN Charter and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We’ve called on all UN member states to support this resolution. And as of now, the resolution has close to 70 co-sponsors from around the world. We expect this number to continue to grow in the coming days.
As countries have stood to make their statements since yesterday, we’ve heard the same resounding message over and over again. It is the same message shared by the Secretary-General, the one I started with: It is illegal, and simply unacceptable, to attempt to redraw another country’s borders by force. It goes against what the UN stands for.
And yesterday we saw Russia’s cowardly efforts to have this vote done by secret ballot resoundingly fail by an overwhelming margin. We’re encouraged by how many voted against Russia’s procedural attempts to shield themselves from accountability.
I will end with this: After Russia’s strikes against Ukraine over the weekend, the choice facing UN members has become even more stark. The stakes have become even more clear. Now is not the time for placation. It is the time for action. As Secretary Blinken said yesterday, “Russia’s attacks are yet another reminder that its war against Ukraine presents a profound moral issue. No person of conscience – and no country of principle – could be unmoved by the devastation of these horrors,” unquote.
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Countries taking sides with Russia
what is important for us to watch are the number of countries that voted with Russia. And the no votes were very limited and the countries were not unexpected. And we expect those numbers to remain low when we bring forward the resolution for a vote likely on Wednesday.
I can’t explain why countries make a decision to abstain. Some of them have tried to explain that. But for us, it’s those countries who voted no, and looking at who they are doesn’t surprise any of us.
As for the Turkey – Turkish call for a ceasefire, certainly that would have to be on both sides, because if the Ukrainians stop fighting the Ukrainians are going to lose their country. And whether the Russians can be trusted or not always remains to be seen. We certainly support efforts to bring this war to an end, but the simplest action to bring the war to an end is for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Russia and veto power
They can’t veto the Security Council, and they can’t veto the condemnation that they are experiencing, and they can’t veto the isolation that they are experiencing. The fact that 14 countries in the Security Council did – voted against them is a clear – is clear evidence of the isolation that they are experiencing.
Arab countries and the African countries
The only country intimidating countries to vote is Russia. We don’t use intimidation tactics. Our message to all countries is that this is about the UN Charter. It’s about what the Secretary-General said in his statement. This is an attack on all of the values that we stand for. It is not a competition between Russia and the United States. It is not a taking sides. It’s about defending the right of Ukraine to exist. It’s about defending the UN Charter.
And countries that make the decision to abstain, again, I can’t explain those countries. We do, along with a variety of countries, engage with our friends and our allies and our colleagues to explain the position that we have on the UN Charter, but we don’t use intimidation tactics. That’s just another disinformation and propaganda message from the Russians explaining to the world what they do to intimidate their – to get the votes. And they clearly are not succeeding, as you noted. As you will notice, there were only a few countries that voted with Russia in the three votes that we had yesterday.
The draft resolution
We’re doing everything possible to ensure that the votes are strong. Back in 2014, 100 countries supported the vote against Russia on Crimea, and those numbers have gone up. And I think African countries and countries from the Middle East understand and appreciate the importance of supporting the UN Charter that we all signed onto when it was created. And they all see with their own eyes the aggression that Russia is taking against the people of Ukraine, and no country of conscience, as Secretary Blinken said, can be unmoved by that.