RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UNSC: If Putin's Kremlin Will Not Even Honor Former Russian President Yelstin's Treaty Prohibiting Attacks on Ukraine, They Can Hardly Claim to be Successors of the USSR With UNSC Veto
The Russian Federation's claim to a veto-wielding permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council rested upon the notion that they were somehow a successor of the old Soviet Union. That was despite the current "Russia" not even being as big as the old pre-USSR Russia itself, let along the Soviet Union.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin does not even act as if it is a successor of an earlier Russian Federation government, blatantly violating a treaty signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The Budapest Agreement of 1994 legally bound the Russian Federation to not invade, or even threaten, Ukraine. The treaty was used to induce Ukraine to voluntarily give up one of the world's biggest nuclear aresenals, a portion of the old Soviet nuclear arsenal that Ukraine hosted dating back to when Ukraine was a major component of the Soviet Union.
If Putin's Kremlin does not even consider itself a successor to an earlier regime of the so-called Russian Federation, it hardly could claim to the status of being a successor to the old Soviet Union.
It would be a bit like California, or the old southern Confederacy, trying to call itself the American Federation, and claiming to be a successor state of the United States.
The "Russian Federation" and Ukraine existed side-by-side as subcomponents of the Soviet Union. "Russia" attacking Ukraine, and Putin claiming that the Russian Federation had created Ukraine would be like California attacking Texas and trying to claim that California created Texas, and needed to subdue Texas to its will.
One benefit of the Russian Federation being deemed a would-be successor state of the Soviet Union was supposed to be that the new, downsized Russian Federation would honor treaties that the Soviet Union had signed.
In the process of adopting the successor-state concept, the Russian Federation laid claim to the old Soviet seat on the UN Security Council. That includes the veto power that the "Russian Federation" now is using to obstruct the work of the UNSC, thwarting UNSC attempts to address the Kremlin's illegal attacks on Ukraine and alleged atrocities by Russian forces.
But if Putin does not even recognize a successor-predessor relationship with Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin, he hardly can claim to be a successor of the larger state that existed before Yeltsin took the helm of a new, down-sized Russian Federation.
In violation of international law and rational common sense, Putin apparently does not even consider himself bound, as Russian Federation president, by a treaty entered into under an earlier Russian Federation president. Indeed, the treaty was entered to under one of just two other Russian Federation presidents, less than 30 years ago. Indeed, the treaty barring the Russian Federation from attacking or threatening Ukraine was entered into by the first Russian Federation president, who immediately preceded Putin's first term as president, and who essentially anointed Putin as his successor.
If Putin apparently repudiates his connection to Russian Federation obligations entered into a few decades ago, it would be absurd to continue to pretend that he can lay claim to a UNSC veto-wielding permanent seat held by an entirely different country that preceded the very existence of the so-called Russian Federation.
The would-be "Russian Fedration" should be stripped of a UNSC veto and permanent seat immediately.
With their obstructionist tactics thwarted, one of the top priorities of the UNSC should be to address Putin's illegal war in Ukraine and its many atrocities. That should include personal criminal prosecutions of Putin and his henchmen, as well as the imposition of financial liability for Ukrainian deaths and the billions, or trillions, needed to repair the property and infrastructure damage caused by Putin's illegal war.
[please be sure to consider clicking the support button, to support this web project and related efforts]
Key Words: Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Union, USSR, Budapest Agreement, Boris Yeltsin, Kremlin, United Nations Security Council, UNSC, Nuclear Weapons, War Crimes, Putin
Any health-related, legal, scientific, investment- or business-related, or other content provided on these site(s) or domain(s) is for informational purposes only, and/or to invite further reflection, research and analysis, and not for the purpose of providing medical, legal or any other kind of professional advice. All investment activity can carry risk, and these sites and domains assert no opionion or guidance regarding any investor's undertaking of any investment decision. Under no circumstances do these sites or domain(s), establish an attorney-client relationship or any similar or analogous type of relationship, professional or otherwise. Use of these site(s) and domain(s) is only permitted under, and constitutes agreement with, those or similar conditions and limitations, as expressed now, or as might be revised in the future.