Russia should be expelled from UN Security Council: Arguments of President of Finland

Stubb, who oversees the foreign policy of this Scandinavian country, announced that he will lend his voice to calls for reform next week in New York at the UN General Assembly, where the composition of the Security Council of this global organization will be discussed.

The Security Council, composed of five permanent and ten non-permanent member countries, is tasked with maintaining global peace. However, geopolitical rivalry has stalled its progress on several issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Stubb said that he would propose increasing the number of permanent members from five to ten, adding one representative from Latin America, two from Africa, and two from Asia.

"No single state should have veto power in the UN Security Council," he said.

The United States, one of the five veto-wielding countries alongside Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom, has also supported granting two permanent seats to Africa.

Stubb said that any member state engaged in an illegal war, "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine," should be kicked off.

Radical reform

Stubb acknowledged that his proposals for the Security Council "go beyond what is usually said from small member states," but added that big nations would not propose diminishing their own influence.

"So they talk the talk, but don't walk the walk," he said, expressing hope that others will help implement the plan by the UN's 80th anniversary next year.

Any changes to the Security Council's composition, including the five veto powers, require approval from two-thirds of the General Assembly.

"My basic message is that if countries from the global South, from Latin America, from Africa, from Asia, do not get agency in the system, they will turn their backs against the United Nations. And that we do not want," he said.

Support for Ukraine

The former Prime Minister of Finland and European Parliament member, who assumed the presidency in March, called for support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will address the UN Assembly next week with his "victory plan."

"He has informed us that 90% is already there and the 10% that he will present is what will be needed for him to win this war," Stubb said.

He urged Western countries to lift restrictions on the use of donated weapons, which he claimed would leave Ukraine "with one hand tied behind its back."

"We need to let that hand go and allow Ukraine to do what Russia is doing to it," he said.

Stubb dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats of nuclear escalation. "Last time we saw Putin using aggressive language on nuclear weapons, the global South and China basically told Putin to stop," he said.

Previously, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that supplying weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces is the best way to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine.