Russiaʼs presidency of the UN Security Council faced the first sign of resistance — Great Britain took a rare step and blocked the online broadcast of an unofficial meeting of the Security Council, which was going to be devoted to the topic of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The New York Times writes about it.
The British Mission to the UN stated it blocked the online broadcast because Russia had appointed its Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights Maria Lviv-Belova, to speak at the meeting. She, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, received an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court due to the deportation of Ukrainian children.
"She should not be given a platform by the UN to spread disinformation. If she wants to report on her actions, she can do so in The Hague," the British mission stated.
In the description of the meeting, Russia wrote that its goal is to "dispel the deliberately distorted narrative of the Western media and some countries about how Russia treats Ukrainian children."
In addition to Lvova-Belova, four more Russian officials dealing with the issue of children were to speak at the meeting. One of them is a Russian adviser on humanitarian issues in Lvova-Belovaʼs office, and three are local officials on child protection issues from occupied Donetsk.
Blocking a live broadcast of an unofficial meeting of the Security Council is extremely rare. Last month, China blocked the broadcast of an informal UN meeting on North Korean abuses. It was the first time that a member of the Council objected to the online broadcast, which requires the permission of all 15 members of the Security Council.
- On April 1, 2023, Russia began presiding over the UN Security Council. The chairmanship of the Security Council changes every month in the order of the English alphabet. The Security Council consists of five permanent members of the UN, including Russia, Great Britain, France, the United States and China, who have the right to veto, as well as 10 member countries on a rotating basis. The Council of Security considers and adopts decisions on security matters, which other members of the UN are obliged to follow.
- On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine during the UN meeting. During the year of the great war, the members of the Security Council did not manage to exclude Russia from the organization, and even more so, they did not deprive it of the opportunity to preside. At the same time, the Russian Federation, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has the right to veto any of its decisions.
- On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Russian Presidentʼs Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights Maria Lvova-Belova. They are accused of directing the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime. Children were taken out without the permission of relatives and Ukraine, in Russia they were granted citizenship. For this purpose, Putin passed a number of decrees that simplified these procedures, and Lvova-Belova carried out his instructions. Together with their parents, up to 150 000 children could be deported to Russia (just over 300 were able to return). This is the fifth time in its history that the International Criminal Court has issued such a warrant against a sitting president.