‘Twisted logic’: Russian diplomat savages Kiev’s bid to expel Moscow from UNSC

Maria Zakharova

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday said Ukraine’s calls to expel Russia from the UN Security Council have no basis in international law or reality.

"It’s interesting to listen to. It feels like reading some work of fiction. It doesn’t have anything to do with international law, reality or diplomacy," she said at a news conference in comments on the recent Ukrainian proposals.

Zakharova also said Ukraine used "twisted logic" in asserting that Russia can’t be a member of the UNSC because Moscow allegedly didn’t go through the legal procedure to gain that status.

On December 20, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Kiev was preparing official steps to strip Russia of membership in the UN Security Council. At the same time, he admitted the process wouldn’t be easy to start.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said multiple times that it’s impossible to take away Russia’s UNSC membership. The US also believes UN rules can’t be changed to strip Russia of its UNSC seat. White House Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said as much at a news conference on December 15.