Kyiv: Russia's Presidency of UN Security Council 'a Bad Joke'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. AFP file photo
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. AFP file photo
TT

Kyiv: Russia's Presidency of UN Security Council 'a Bad Joke'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. AFP file photo
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. AFP file photo

Ukraine on Thursday said Russia's upcoming presidency of the United Nations Security Council this week was "a bad joke".

"Russian UN Security Council presidency on April 1 is a bad joke. Russia has usurped its seat; it's waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
"The world can't be a safe place with Russia at UNSC," he added.

The presidency rotates every month between the 15 member states.

Russia would hold little influence on the decisions but be in charge of setting the agenda.

Ukraine has called for Russia to be removed from the Security Council over its invasion launched in February last year.

Russia last chaired the council in February 2022 when the Kremlin ordered troops to Ukraine.



Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
TT

Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Three European Powers in Geneva on Friday

Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP
Western countries successfully moved a resolution at the IAEA to censure Iran over its nuclear program - AFP

Iran plans to hold talks about its disputed nuclear program with three European powers on Nov. 29 in Geneva, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, days after the UN atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran.
Iran reacted to the resolution, which was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with what government officials called various measures such as activating numerous new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.
Kyodo said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's government was seeking a solution to the nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration in January of US President-elect Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
A senior Iranian official confirmed that the meeting would go ahead next Friday, adding that "Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks".
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Indirect talks between President Joe Biden's administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said in his election campaign in September that "We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal".