Russia uses UN Security Council veto to cover ‘barbarism’ in Ukraine, says UK foreign secretary

Britain’s top diplomat on Tuesday accused Russia of using its UN Security Council veto as a “green light for barbarism” in Ukraine.

Liz Truss made her comments in parliament when an MP asked whether Russia should remain a permanent member of the council.

Truss said: “The security council does have a role to play, (as) under our presidency, we have used it to call out Russia’s lies.

“We have also hosted (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy to speak to the council.

“But … we do have concerns about an international security architecture that has Russia as one of the permanent members of the Security Council and they have used their veto as a green light for barbarism,” Truss continued.

“Part of our response (to this) has been working more closely with allies like the G7, allies like NATO because we simply haven’t seen enough taking place at a UN level,” she added.

Britain and Russia, alongside the US, France, and China, make up the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; each of the five has a veto.