Ukraine Wins UN Security Council Seat

The bottom line, says Laurenti, is that the importance of the 10 elected council members has diminished. Ukraine has contended that the Russian loan, which was extended to then-President Viktor Yanukovych in 2013 a few months before he fled the country, was a de-facto bribe for the Russian-friendly ruler who was facing street protests.

A few of the most intense arguments at the Council over the previous year have been between Russian Federation, Ukraine and the U.S. Russian Federation annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

During a government meeting on Tuesday, Pres. Putin said, “They should return the money to us”.

“Russia needs to show it’s willing to behave toward Ukraine in a civilized fashion”, Gowan said.

“For the first time, we have an absolutely unique, unimaginable situation…that a permanent member of the UN Security Council is an aggressor in Ukraine, waging a hybrid war against Ukraine,” Klimkin said.

“Ironically, the Ukrainians may have to be more cautious with Moscow”, Gowan wrote in an email.

Ukraine appeared to step back from the brink of default when it reached a 20-per cent write-down agreement in August with four Western investments titans that own about half of Ukraine’s $18 billion in maturing commercial debt.

Ukraine’s seat is also unlikely to affect the council’s engagement on other issues, such as the Syrian crisis.

Egypt got 179 affirmative votes, Japan got 184, Senegal received 187 and Uruguay secured 185. Senegal has served twice before.

Motohide Yoshikawa, Japan’s ambassador to the United Nations, said he was “very pleased” with the election results and said his country would work to make the council stronger and more open.

On January 1, the five countries will replace in the UN Security Council Chad, Nigeria, Lithuania, Chile and Jordan, whose two-year-term will come to an end, and will join Angola, Venezuela, Spain, Malaysia and New Zealand, whose powers end in late 2016.

In an interview with The Associated Press after Thursday’s vote, Klimkin stressed that “the Security Council is not just about settling scores”.