US, allies step up pressure to isolate Russia diplomatically
The US and its western allies are stepping up pressure to isolate Russia diplomatically, including by pushing it out of multilateral institutions, and rallying other countries to step up their condemnation of Russian actions.
After imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia with the stated objective of making it an “economic pariah”, the United States (US) and its western allies are stepping up pressure to isolate Russia diplomatically, including by pushing it out of multilateral institutions, and rallying other countries to step up their condemnation of Russian actions, particularly on the grounds of its alleged human rights violations in Ukraine.
On Monday, speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council, US secretary of state Antony J Blinken said that Russia’s “crimes” in Ukraine are “mounting by the hour”, and added, “One can reasonably ask if a UN member state that tries to take over another UN member state, while committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering, should be allowed to remain on this council.”
Almost simultaneously, based on a push by Ukraine, a United Kingdom government spokesperson indicated that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was considering a proposal to seek Russia’s ouster from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) - a proposal that UN officials privately indicate is a non-starter and experts dismiss it as a pressure tactic.
Human rights offensive
In his speech, Blinken said that “more than at any point in recent history”, the principles at the heart of UNHRC work and the entire UN system were being challenged by Russia’s “premediated, unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine. “Russian strikes are hitting schools, hospitals, residential buildings. They are destroying critical infrastructure…Civilian cars, buses, even ambulances are being shelled. Russia is doing this across Ukraine every day.” He claimed that if Russia succeeded, the human rights and humanitarian crisis would only get worse in Ukraine, while alleging that there had been an increase in the crackdown on human rights within Russia itself.
“These are the human rights abuses this Council was created to stop. If we can’t come together now, when will be come together? We must send a unified and resolute message that President (Vladimir) Putin should unconditionally stop this attack,” said Blinken.
He added that the Council’s decision to hold an urgent debate on the crisis in Ukraine - scheduled for Thursday -was an important step in ensuring “documentation and accountability”. India has abstained from a vote at the Council - like it did back in New York at the UN Security Council - to hold the debate on a Ukrainian resolution demanding a high-level probe into Russia’s human rights violations since 2014.
In a sign of increased pressure on council members to oppose Russian actions, Blinken said that they must stop using language that implies “all sides bear equal responsibility”, for the “unprovoked attack of one side”. “This isn’t even handed. It is wrong.” He also rejected the criticism that speaking about human rights abuses was “politicising the situation”.
“It is failing to speak up about human rights abuses that politicises the situation.” He added that at a moment when the world needed “moral clarity and unity”, some governments were arguing that sovereignty allowed them to do what they wanted within their borders. “It is no coincidence that many governments making these arguments are systematically abusing human rights and have been eerily silent in the face of Russia’s flagrant assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
The UN membership debate
Blinken’s statement questioning Russia’s membership of the UNHRC came soon after the United Kingdom (UK) was reported to have said that it was considering a push to remove Russia from the UN Security Council - a demand made by Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the invasion. From London, AFP reported that a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said that UK wanted to see Russia “isolated diplomatically” and was willing to consider all options to achieve that. The spokesperson added that the PM had not yet staked his position out on the matter, and the matter of Russia’s membership would be discussed with the UN.
Experts believe that expelling Russia from the UNSC is more of a rhetorical threat than one that can actually translate into reality - no permanent member of the UNSC has ever been expelled; removing a country from the UN would require a General Assembly vote, on the recommendation of the Council, where Russia and China are certain to veto the provision. “Others who may be critical of Russia’s position on Ukraine are also not willing to go that far. This is a red herring. But the idea is for it to show how serious the West is about diplomatically isolating Russia,” said a senior UN official, well versed with the organisation’s procedure, on the condition of anonymity.
In a piece for Conversation website on February 24, Andrew Macleod, a visiting professor of public policy at King’s College London, wrote that Ukraine’s case for removing Russia is built on the argument that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the permanent member of UNSC according to the UN Charter, and Russia was not entitled to that seat. Russia had then argued that it was a “continuing state”, keeping the rights and liabilities of the former state, and not a “successor state”, which would have indicated that it was a new state and thus did not merit the rights of its predecessor. Russia’s membership was also not contested by other states which turned independent after USSR’s dissolution.
UK floating the demand is somewhat ironical, for Macleod, in his piece, also pointed out that along with China, UK has the most interest in keeping alive the argument that a continuing state should retain membership of Council. “If Scotland has another independence referendum and breaks away, England and Wales will likely…claim – like Russia – to be the continuing state and not successor state to the UK in order to retain the Security Council seat.”
