UK Asks Russia to Limit UNSC Veto Power, Forgetting Nearly All UN Vetoes are US for Israel

UK UN envoy Matthew Rycroft: Main challenge the UN faces today is one of relevance

“Even if one makes a hypothetical supposition this idea may be discussed, a number of questions instantly arises. If the abdication of the veto power is presumed when mass crimes on the agenda, who will decide what a mass crime is? A hundred people, a thousand? If the limit is one hundred, then 99 is not enough and 100 is OK?” Lavrov said.

He recalled that such problems emerged over the notorious concepts of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect.

“We are very much worried by the growing attempts to provoke a confrontation in the UN Security Council by proposing unilateral resolutions over certain issues, be it Srebrenica or Malaysia’s flight MH17,” Lavrov said. “That’s not diplomacy but a wish to make the UN Security Council a propaganda tool, if the spade is to be called a spade.”

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council bear great responsibility, he said.

“That responsibility is to be remembered and no serious problems generated within the quintet. We are for reviving the culture of the dialogue. It yields concrete results, of which the solution of the Iranian nuclear program issue and various aspects of chemical disarmament in Syria are clear evidence. This is the path worth following. It is less noticeable for the public at large, it is more effort-consuming, but also it is far more productive and fruitful in international relations than attempts to provoke scandals,” Lavrov said.