Ukraine campaigns to strip Russia of UN veto power

Kiev: Ukraine redoubled its efforts Wednesday to see Russia stripped of its veto power on the UN Security Council when the global body`s General Assembly meets in the coming weeks.

Numerous nations are upset with Russia for being one of the five permanent council members that together with China has blocked a series of UN efforts to impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad`s regime.

But Ukraine is especially angry that Moscow has also shot down UN attempts to condemn what Kiev views as Russia`s "aggression" in its separatist industrial east.

Russia views Ukraine`s 17-month crisis in which nearly 8,000 have died as a "civil war" in which it has played no role.

The United States along with Britain and France -- the other three veto-wielding members and strong supporters of Ukraine`s new pro-Western leadership -- have refrained from openly backing such a drastic measure against Russia and the increasingly unpredictable President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine`s parliament Wednesday unanimously voted in favour of a recommendation for the council to strip Moscow of its right to block UN resolutions in cases when "conflicts grow especially fierce".

Kiev`s UN envoy Yuriy Sergeyev tweeted that 67 of the General Assembly`s 193 members have already supported the move.

Moscow swiftly dismissed the proposal and denounced Kiev`s push to expand veto rights to the other 10 non-permanent Security Council members.

Ukraine hopes to be elected as one of the new rotating Council members at a vote in New York scheduled for October 15.

"We stand in favour of preserving (veto) rights for the five permanent Security Council members," Russia`s RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

Gatilov called discussions about allowing the other 10 Council members the right to block resolution "premature".