Diane Francis: Veto Russia

by Diane Francis, Editor-at-Large at the National Post, columnist at the Kyiv Post, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Eurasia Center and author, publisher on the Substack blog platform.

Source: Francis on Substack

President Donald Trump dropped several bombshells at the United Nations this week: He stated that Ukraine should and will win back all the land that Russia has stolen since 2014; that NATO allies should shoot down Russian aircraft encroaching on their airspace; and that the US will provide NATO with all the weapons it needs to help Ukraine and itself fend off Moscow. He also claimed that excessive migration and political correctness were threats to Western Civilization, but failed to mention the single biggest threat to mankind, which is Vladimir Putin, his wars, and his sabotage of peacekeeping efforts at the UN.

Russia is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council whose purpose is to maintain international peace and security. But the country remained on the Council after its tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022. One year later, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared at the Security Council to request that Russia’s veto power be removed and said, “the veto has turned the Council into a morgue, blocking every effort to stop the slaughter.”

Russia must be banned from UN membership and declared a terrorist state. Its ongoing involvement in the Security Council is equivalent to putting a serial killer in charge of the NYPD. That’s what the UN did in 1991 when it allowed Russia to replace the Soviet Union as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with a veto. The Soviet Union was also abusive and the first to use the veto in 1946, but Russia has gone further to clear the way for its warfare. It blocked action on Syria starting in the 2010s, vetoed a resolution on Crimea in 2014, and prevented a vote on its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Veto power is controversial, and some proponents argue that it’s needed because: a) the UN would break down if it attempted to enforce binding action against any permanent member, and b) the veto is a critical safeguard against United States domination. However, it’s been weaponized by Russia, is undemocratic, provides immunity for other permanent members or their allies, and is the reason behind the United Nations’ years of inaction against wars, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It’s a privilege that has been abused. The Security Council veto privilege was granted to the five permanent members who “won” the Second World War – Russia, the US, the UK, France, and China. Another ten countries from the overall membership rotate in and out of the Council, but any of the five can veto a resolution even if all 14 other members approve it.

All five states have used their vetoes over the years to circumvent international laws. Russia invades its neighbors while vetoing any response. China shields allies. The US launched its own misadventures—Vietnam, Iraq, Libya—without fear of accountability. Britain and France have used their veto immunity to commit atrocities in their colonies after the war. As of late 2025, the United States, along with others, has used veto power in the UN Security Council dozens of times to block resolutions or prevent the deployment of peacekeepers.

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