Kyslytsya reminds Nebenzia about Russia's illegal presence in UN Security Council

According to Ukrinform, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said this in response to the answer given by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Nebenzia to an Ukrinform correspondent at a press conference.

"Putler's envoy certainly doesn't let facts get in the way of his opinions. The infamous Xmas eve letter of Yeltsin about Moscow's intention to grab Soviet UNSC seat has never been discussed neither in the Council nor in GA per the Council's report," Kyslytsya wrote on Twitter.

Putler’s envoy certainly doesn’t let facts get in the way of his opinions. The infamous Xmas eve letter of Yeltsin about Moscow’s intention to grab Soviet UNSC seat has never been discussed neither in the Council nor in GA per the Council’s report. Mind the present perfect tense https://t.co/4NAgbEqIua pic.twitter.com/kOUwVyZrz3

— Sergiy Kyslytsya (@SergiyKyslytsya) April 3, 2023

The diplomat illustrated his post with a copy of an annual report of the UN Security Council (June 16, 1991 - June 15, 1992) - a document that proves the absence of legal grounds to consider Russia a successor of the USSR in the UN.

"Page 277 contains an endnote ... 'Matters brought to the attention of the Security Council but not discussed in the Council during the period covered'," according to the copy of the document submitted by the Ukrainian envoy.

The report contains the following entry: "By a letter dated 24 December 1991, the Secretary-General requested the President of the Security Council to bring to the attention of the members of the Council the text of a letter of the same date from the Permanent Representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, transmitting to the Secretary-General a letter [...] from Mr. Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, in which he informed the Secretary-General that the membership of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the United Nations, including the Security Council and all other organs and organizations of the United Nations system, was being continued by the Russian Federation with the support of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States."

In the report, Yeltsin requested that the name "Russian Federation" should be used in the United Nations in place of the name "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

Earlier, Nebenzia, answering a question from an Ukrinform correspondent at a press conference at the UN headquarters, said his country is the successor of the Soviet Union, therefore its presence in the United Nations and the UN Security Council is legal.

Ukraine has repeatedly raised the issue of the legality of Russia's presence in the UN, as its membership is not envisaged in any of the Organization's documents. Among the founders of the UN are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the Soviet Union, which are also permanent members of the Security Council. Russia is not on this list.

In order to gain membership of the UN, a respective decision must be supported by the Security Council and a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly.

Russia's one-month presidency of the UN Security Council began on April 1.