Russian diplomat rejoices Russia's UNSC presidency amid international criticism

As Russia assumes the Presidency of the UN Security Council, Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky stated that the country will be an “honest broker” during its presidency. On Saturday, the Russian first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations took to his Telegram channel to react to the news, Tass reported. Russia assuming the monthly presidency of the international body’s security council has been heavily criticised by the west and especially Ukraine, which is currently involved in a war against Russia. After the news of the Kremlin taking over the presidency broke out, Ukraine maintained an aggressive stance on the issue and called it a "systematic blow". According to Tass, Polyansky made it clear that any attempts to provoke Russia are doomed to fail. 

"Thus, all our haters and adversaries, for whom this perspective was like a bone in the throat, were shamed," Polyansky wrote in the Telegram post. Moscow assumed its presidency on April 1. "As a president should be, we will act as an honest broker, just like we did in February 2022, when our presidency coincided with the beginning of the special operation," the Russian diplomat added. He then went on to give out a warning that any attempts to “provoke” Moscow will not end up being successful.  "Any attempts to provoke us are doomed to fail in advance. Unlike our former Western partners, we play fair in the international arena and we do not promote double standards,” he asserted. 

Ukraine condemns Russian presidency

On Saturday, Russia took up the presidency of the 15-member international body. The presidency is on a rotational basis and changes every month, even the raging Russia-Ukraine war had no impact on these monthly rotations. It was February last year when Moscow held the gavel last time. In the same month, Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated his “special military operations” in Ukraine. The Ukrainian bloc has been displeased with Moscow taking over the presidency all over again. “As of 1 April, they’re taking the level of absurdity to a new level,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian permanent representative, as per the report by The Guardian. “The security council as it is designed is immobilised and incapable to address the issues of their primary responsibility, that is the prevention of conflicts and then dealing with conflicts,” the Ukrainian diplomat further added. 

Following the announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also lashed out at the international body and called the move “absurd and destructive”. “It is hard to imagine something more evident that proves the complete bankruptcy of such institutions,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter and called the Russian presidency a “slap in the face”. “Russian UNSC presidency is a slap in the face to the international community. I urge the current UNSC members to thwart any Russian attempts to abuse its presidency. I also remind that Russia is an outlaw on the UNSC,” The Ukrainian Foreign Minister wrote on Saturday. 

Russian UNSC presidency is a slap in the face to the international community. I urge the current UNSC members to thwart any Russian attempts to abuse its presidency. I also remind that Russia is an outlaw on the UNSC: https://t.co/rZVC1pV0MY#BadRussianJoke #InsecurityCouncil

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba)