A double failure
The United Nations was established just after World War II, in 1946, to promote peace among nations.
In that regard, the UN had a similar mandate to its predecessor, the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was disbanded after its failure to prevent World War II, and for its utter powerlessness during the war.
Today, the UN is coming under similar criticism, notably from Ukraine's president Zelensky, for its inability to prevent Russia's war in Ukraine.
As noted above:
"in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting".
Despite this provision, Russia has not abstained from voting on matters related to its invasion of Ukraine,
and the Security Council has failed to pass any meaningful resolutions to prevent or end the war.
Already in 2014, after Russia invaded Crimea and incited a war in the Donbas,
The Security Council tried to pass a draft resolution that reaffirmed the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine
.
The resolution did not pass not so much because Russia vetoed it,
but because all of the other Security Council members failed to point out that Russia had an obligation to abstain from the vote (emphasis added):
Russia was able to veto the Chapter VI draft resolution
as no challenges were raised as to whether or not it had to abstain as a party to a dispute,
as envisaged in Article 27(3) of the UN Charter.
(...)
The single attempt at a decision was a weakly worded draft resolution
which failed to mention Russia and made no reference to the strategic port of Sevastopol.
As Council members were aware in advance that Russia would veto the draft,
it is surprising that there was no previous discussion of whether or not it was a party to the dispute
and whether it had to abstain from voting in accordance with Article 27(3).
Ultimately, the Council could have decided, with at least nine affirmative votes,
to challenge Russia and oblige it to abstain from voting on the Chapter VI draft resolution.
[4]
The Security Council Report further states in 2014:
Negligence in the application of Article 27(3) abstentions risks not only reducing the provision to desuetude,
but also enlarging the scope for the use of the veto.
The recent veto by Russia on a draft resolution under Chapter VI on the situation in Ukraine without discussion on Article 27(3)
seems to confirm that Council members in general do not see any compelling interest in bringing the provision back to life.
Obligatory abstentions seem to have vanished under a tacit agreement. [5]
Thus, Russia's invasion of Ukraine represents a double failure of the United Nations as a whole,
and of the UN Security Council in particular.
First, there is the obvious failure to prevent the war.
Secondly, there is the failure to prevent a party to the war from imposing its veto,
depriving the UN of any real means to take action against the aggressor.
The question should be asked to all members of the Security Council,
and especially to those who now support Ukraine:
why didn't they raise Article 27(3) and demand that Russia abstains on any UNSC vote on Ukraine?
Another important actor that must be mentioned here: the People's Republic of China.
The same document states:
China may well become the “arbiter” on future Council outcomes on Ukraine.
If Russia is cornered into an Article 27(3) abstention,
China could eventually decide to veto any future Chapter VI draft resolution(s) out of solidarity with Russia.
Doing so, however, would undermine the respect for territorial integrity and national sovereignty
that China has upheld as core principles of its foreign policy.
For the Chinese Communist Party, territorial integrity and national sovereignty
include Taiwan.
China has the explicit policy to bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary.
Any resolution about Ukraine that binds Russia has a good chance to be held against China about Taiwan in the future.
The PRC already considers Taiwan as part of its territory (despite historical facts to the contrary).
Thus, even if Russia had been forced to abstain from voting,
China may very well have vetoed the resolution in view of its own territorial claims.
United Nations resolutions
United Nations resolutions on Russia's war in Ukraine (Wikipedia):
The United Nations itself provides a fact sheet about the UN's dealing with Russia's war in Ukraine:
Different UN bodies are engaged within Ukraine:
The Security Council Report provides the following summary
about the UN's handling of Russia's war in Ukraine, as of early 2023: [3]
In relation to Ukraine, on 26 February 2022,
Ukraine instituted proceedings against Russia before the ICJ, which rendered provisional measures on 16 March,
ordering Russia to immediately suspend the military operations it commenced on 24 February 2022 in Ukrainian territory, among other matters.
On 2 March, ICC Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan announced that he had decided to proceed
with an active investigation into the situation in Ukraine after receiving referrals from 39 ICC States Parties.
After holding an “urgent debate on the situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression” on 3 and 4 March,
the Human Rights Council (HRC) established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Ukraine.
The COI’s responsibilities include investigating
“all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and related crimes
in the context of aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation”,
as well as preserving information, documentation and evidence of such violations and abuses in view of any future legal proceedings.
Ukraine is also advocating for creating a special international tribunal to prosecute high-level Russian officials for the crime of aggression.
On 14 November 2022, the General Assembly adopted a resolution recommending the creation of a register
to document damages “caused by internationally wrongful acts of [Russia] in or against Ukraine”.
The register is also intended to promote and coordinate evidence gathering.
The Security Council Report has a list of publications about Ukraine:
