US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in an exclusive interview with AFP on Thursday that Russia should not be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. It shouldn’t be in Ukraine because of what it’s doing, but the charter (of the United Nations) doesn’t allow it to be converted into a permanent membership,” Thomas-Greenfield told AFP on Monday. Costa Rica, where she attended a democracy summit.
From Saturday, Russia is to take over the executive body of the United Nations for a month and replace Mozambique.
The US ambassador stressed that she expects Russia to behave “professionally” in the presidency, but expressed doubts.
“We also expect them to look for ways to further their disinformation campaign against Ukraine, the United States and all our allies,” the Washington ambassador said.
“We will take every opportunity to voice our concerns about Russia’s actions,” she added, reiterating Washington’s condemnation of the “war crimes and human rights abuses they are committing in Ukraine.”
Thomas-Greenfield said the United States would condemn Russia’s actions and let the world know “what Russia is doing and the consequences of its actions against Ukraine.”
Referring to the diplomatic struggle between China and Taiwan to strengthen their diplomatic ties with Latin American countries, Ms. Thomas-Greenfield assured that Washington respects the “One China” policy promoted by Beijing, which considers the autonomous island part of its territory .
However, the diplomat said the United States and Taiwan have a “strong partnership” and that they support the rights of citizens with Taiwanese passports.
Last weekend, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China at the expense of Taiwan.
Ms. Thomas-Greenfield also spoke about the social, economic and political crisis in Haiti and the possibility of international intervention as proposed a few days ago by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“We are very concerned about Haiti. The situation has deteriorated in recent months,” she lamented, but admitted she was debating “how to organize an international force that doesn’t come from the United Nations.”