Could Ukraine strip Russia of its U.N. Security Council veto?

There was a surreal scene at the United Nations late Wednesday. While the Security Council was meeting, at Ukraine's request, to discuss ways to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Russia's U.N. ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the Security Council, insisted Russia hadn't declared war, but rather "a special military operation in Donbas," the eastern Ukrainian separatist enclave.

It was already clear by that point that Putin had ordered an attack on the entire country.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.