Russia has the right to veto all UN resolutions as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, known as the P5. He recently blocked one calling for an immediate end to the invasion of Ukraine. The UN can send peacekeepers to war zones and support military action by its members if the P5 agrees. However, the international organization is overwhelmed by the growing rivalry between the West, Russia and China. The differences were still evident on Tuesday, with Britain and the United States condemning Russia’s atrocities, while China and the United Arab Emirates – a non-permanent member of the council – refrained from criticizing Moscow. In his speech, Zelensky criticized the United Nations for failing to prevent massacres in Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Libya. If “tyranny” had been tackled earlier by the UN, then his country would not be at war now, he said. He suggested convening a world conference in Kyiv to reform the global security system, adding: “It is time to transform the United Nations system.” Zelensky said any Russian military leader or politician who had given the order leading to the massacre in his country should be brought to justice in a court “similar to the Nuremberg tribunals”. He said: “I would like to remind Russian diplomats that Von Ribbentrop did not escape punishment for crimes committed after World War II. “I also remind you that Adolf Eichmann did not go unpunished.” Zelensky showed the 15-member Security Council a 90-second graphic video of the aftermath of Russian atrocities, including dead women and children, burnt bodies and mass grave victims. He said: “Russian troops are deliberately destroying Ukrainian cities in the ashes with artillery and air raids. They deliberately block cities, creating mass hunger. They deliberately shoot columns of civilians in the street trying to escape the hostilities. “They are even deliberately blowing up shelters where civilians are hiding from airstrikes.” The Russians deported hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and abducted more than 2,000 children, he said. Zelensky added: “Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves.” Gloomy evidence continued to emerge of massacres by Russian forces on the outskirts of Kiev. Ukrainian officials say the bodies of more than 400 civilians have been found in cities around the capital.
