Ukraine live briefing: Russia takes U.N. Security Council presidency; calls mount for release of U.S. reporter

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Updated April 1, 2023 at 6:10 a.m. EDT|Published April 1, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. EDT
Soldiers raise the Ukrainian flag during a ceremony near Bucha on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the town's liberation from Russian troops. (Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
6 min

Russia took up the presidency of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, a rotating role that it will hold for one month. Moscow last held the position in February 2022 — the month it invaded Ukraine.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week that “a country that flagrantly violates the U.N. Charter and invades its neighbor has no place on the U.N. Security Council,” but added that there is “no feasible international legal pathway” to change Moscow’s status in the organization. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s presidency “a stark reminder that something is wrong with the way international security architecture is functioning,” while Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said it was a “symbolic blow.”