The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is open for cooperation and invites all interested deputies of Ukraine to join forces on the issue of excluding the Russian Federation from the UN Security Council and the UN as a whole, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko said.

According to the spokesperson, the diplomatic department will be grateful for the involvement of deputies in carrying out work at all possible levels and venues.

"We saw information in the media about the appeal of deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to inform about the course of Russia's exclusion from the UN. We have not received any appeals, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine positively notes the high interest of deputies in the topic of excluding the Russian Federation from the UN Security Council and the UN as a whole," Nikolenko wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

According to him, the abuse of the right of veto by the Russian Federation has acquired egregious proportions. The problem became especially acute after February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, blocking any actions of the key UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

"Numerous Russian crimes are a direct consequence of the violation of the procedures defined by the UN Charter for Russia to gain membership in the UN and the status of a permanent member of the Security Council, which occurred 31 years ago," the spokesperson stressed.

He clarified that this is why, involving the best Ukrainian and foreign international lawyers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has developed a detailed reasoned position on the illegitimacy of Russia's stay in the UN Security Council and the UN as a whole and the need for its exclusion.

"This position is as follows: in December 1991, the Russian delegation, without statutory grounds, usurped the chair of the USSR in the UN Security Council – a state that at that time ceased to exist. The acquisition by the Russian Federation of the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council was illegal. Having grossly violated the UN Charter, the Russian Federation felt total permissiveness and impunity. Unpunished evil in the past has led to bloody consequences in the present time," Nikolenko said.

At the same time, according to him, on December 26, 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine made an official statement and officially notified the UN member states about the beginning of a systematic campaign to deprive the Russian Federation of the status of a permanent member of the Security Council.

The spokesperson stressed that the Ministry's statement reinforced the relevant resolution of the Verkhovna Rada adopted in early December. The Government and Parliament of Ukraine have come out as a united front to mobilize an international response against Russia's abuses at the UN.

"Immediately after the publication of the official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine began large-scale and systematic diplomatic work to mobilize a coalition of like-minded people and promote the topic of the exclusion of the Russian Federation. Minister Dmytro Kuleba has repeatedly informed about this in his public speeches and at media briefings," Nikolenko said.

He assured that Ukrainian diplomats have already carried out work in more than two dozen countries in order to attract them to participate in the global advocacy for the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the UN Security Council.

In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already working with more than three dozen public opinion leaders and authoritative representatives of political, academic and expert circles to advocate for the Ukrainian initiative. Persons who could advocate not only in specific countries, but also at the international level are also involved.

"The work continues, so the number of countries and lawyers will continue to grow. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is finalizing a plan of events and steps of a public campaign to advocate for Russia's exclusion from the Security Council, while simultaneously holding consultations with partners on further diplomatic steps in this direction. The issue of excluding the Russian Federation from the UN Security Council is one of the priorities of foreign policy," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

"We are convinced that the implementation of such a complex task requires the consolidation of all efforts both in the public, political and diplomatic spheres," he summed up.