Russia Leads UN Security Council in July, Excluding Ukraine From Agenda

Russia assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council on July 1.

Vasiliy Nebenzya, Russia's ambassador to the U.N., stated during a press briefing in New York that Ukraine will not be on the agenda for this month.

At Russia's initiative, the Security Council will focus on discussing the Middle East conflicts, with specific attention on Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Nebenzya mentioned that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to attend the Security Council meetings in New York by the end of the month if "visa issues are resolved."

A journalist from the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform asked Nebenzya about a recent article alleging that Russia mistakenly dropped glide bombs on its own territory nearly 40 times in a year.

The reporter queried, "Wouldn't you like to raise the issue of the security of the Russian population at the U.N. Security Council to protect it from its own armed forces?"

Nebenzya responded by suggesting that Ukraine and its Western allies are fabricating stories about Russia bombing itself. Russia's ambassador to the U.N. then proceeded to voice narratives about the "provocation" by Western countries in Bucha, shelling in Crimea, the "Ukrainian crisis," Istanbul's "peaceful" agreements, and so on.

Each of the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, including Russia, holds the presidency for a month. Russia last chaired the council in April 2023.

Previously on June 30, The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has adopted a resolution condemning Russia’s decade-long armed aggression against Ukraine and recognizing it as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. On June 25, The United States has included Russia and Belarus in its list of countries identified as sponsoring human trafficking.

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. Unlike other UN bodies, only the Security Council has the authority to make decisions that are binding on all UN member states.