The Ukrainian government today accused Russia of illegally occupying a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and called for Russia to be expelled from the Security Council and the entire UN.

The picture shows the Russian ambassador to the UN Security Council meeting.

(AFP)

[Central News Agency] The Ukrainian government today accused Russia of illegally occupying a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, calling for Russia to be expelled from the Security Council and the entire United Nations.

The permanent members of the Security Council have veto power over any UN resolution.

"Ukraine asks the member states of the United Nations ... to deprive the Russian Federation of its permanent membership in the UN Security Council and exclude it from the United Nations as a whole," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement, Agence France-Presse reported. "

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The statement pointed out that since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia "illegally occupied the Soviet Union's seat on the UN Security Council".

"From a legal and political point of view, there can only be one conclusion: Russia has usurped the USSR's seat on the UN Security Council."

The Ukrainian foreign ministry added that Russia's "30 years of illegal presence at the United Nations were marked by wars and looting of the territories of other countries".

The UN Security Council has 15 seats, of which the five permanent members enjoy veto power over UN resolutions.