Russia takes over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council; ‘Bad optics’ for the West, a propaganda victory for Putin: experts

Russia has it again He continued his top job at the United Nations Security Council by filling the presidency in April, and security officials are concerned about how the Kremlin will use its influence while sitting on the rotating chair.

The presidency rotates monthly among the council’s 15 member states. Therefore, Russia’s time in the seat will be short.

But officials say Moscow can use its short position To influence the Council’s agenda, prioritize or de-prioritize certain issues, and appear to Russians at home as a legitimate world leader.

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, attends a high-level Security Council meeting on Ukraine, February 24, 2023. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

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“It’s not going to be a fun month,” Jonathan Wachtel told Fox News Digital.

Wachtel served as the United States Permanent Representative and Advisor on Foreign Policy and International Relations to the United Nations during the Trump administration.

Last February, Russia had the presidency. That’s when the occupation began in Ukraine. And here we are, a year later, at the most critical point in the war,” Wachtel said, citing the risk of escalating nuclear war and Ever-increasing tension in geopolitical relations.

“Moscow presides over the Security Council. This is not good.”

The Kremlin already has. Prepare the meeting agenda for April It is chaired by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has repeatedly issued false narratives about Russia’s intentions for the war in Ukraine, leveled accusations of Nazism against the Kiev administration, and made dangerous rhetoric about nuclear proliferation against the West.

Some say that during Russia’s last presidency, it tried to mislead the world when it came to its intentions regarding Ukraine, and then to justify its invasion of eastern Ukraine by blaming it on Kiev.

Ukrainian Ambassador Serhiy Kislityi addresses the Security Council during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, April 5, 2022. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

Although Russia’s rhetoric did little to persuade members of the UN Security Council or the wider international community following the invasion, the Kremlin’s Use of propaganda He proved successful at home, where he seemed to have broad support for his deadly war against Kiev.

“Putin is using Russia’s new position to propagandize that Russia is not only a great power, but also a moral one, both domestically and internationally,” Rebecca Koffler, a Russia expert and former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Fox News Digital.

But, more importantly, Koffler noted, Russia’s position at the top of the world table gives “bad optics” to countries trying to maintain a sense of world order.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks with Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia before the start of the Security Council meeting on Ukraine on February 24, 2023 at the United Nations Headquarters. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Lightrock via Getty Images)

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“In reality, Russia’s new position will not change the balance of power with the UN Security Council or the UN,” Koffler said. “But the optics are very scary for the West. You have a country – the leader is under arrest warrant. International Criminal Court – Management of the highest international organization whose main mission is to control international relations and comply with international laws.

“This development shows that there is a disconnection between justice and mission in the current international system,” she added.

Ukraine, along with some Western scholars, has questioned Russia’s rightful seat on the United Nations Security Council, a body that did not list the Soviet Union as a permanent member when it was created after World War II.

Wachtel noted that the collapse of the Soviet Union, coupled with Moscow’s continued mandate as a permanent member of the Security Council, did not sit well with former USSR states such as Ukraine.

The Security Council held a meeting on Women, Peace and Security at the United Nations Headquarters on March 7, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Soviet Union was in all reality a country ruled by a central power in Moscow, and there were 15 Republicans from the Baltics through Central Asia to the Caucus,” he said. “So the transformation of the Soviet Union into the Russian Federation… is a problem for the 15 independent countries that left the Soviet Union.

“These are legitimate questions because Moscow does not represent independent countries [bloc]” he added.

Russian diplomat Jacob Malik, chairman of the Security Council, convened a United Nations meeting in August 1950. (Gunter/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The United Nations has condemned allegations of torture, human shields and other war crimes in the Ukraine conflict.

the same China has been debated As the Republic of China (ROC), now a government based in Taiwan, it is registered as a permanent member, not the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which took over Beijing in the early 1970s.

“This has been the case for decades now and trying to exclude Beijing and Moscow from being in the council because of their geopolitical influence and historical legacy makes it very difficult to make sense of the world order and bring about progress,” he said. “As much as Americans and Western liberal democracies like to see representations in the world that benefit humanity and help limit the regime’s power, this is not realistic.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video conference at his Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

Since the original member states are intended to be permanent, there is no procedure for expelling a permanent member from the Security Council.

While a country can be removed from the United Nations by vote, Russia’s veto power as a permanent member makes this method futile.

Russian delegation to the United Nations Fox News Digital did not return a request for comment.

Estonia, which is not currently a member of the UN Security Council, but has faced growing threats of Russian aggression, condemned the move on Friday, saying it was “shameful, humiliating and dangerous to the credibility and effective functioning of the United Nations”.

Russia will assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council in April. (Getty Images)

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“He won’t say tomorrow. [April 1] On the anniversary of the massacre Russia takes over the presidency. The UN Security Council?” Estonia’s Ambassador Rein Tamsar said at a council meeting in Ukraine. “A country that is waging a war of aggression against its neighbor, committing the most horrific atrocities, threatening the world with nuclear weapons, and its leader is war. A criminal with a permanent arrest warrant from the ICC should not have a place in the leadership of a body whose main objective is to maintain international peace and security.

“It is the body’s responsibility to resist Russia’s efforts to turn the centerpiece of international diplomacy into a forum for ridicule and information,” he warned.