Lavrov: Criminal probe into MH17 crash in Ukraine not UN Security Council business

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The veto right in the UN Security Council that often comes under criticism is a major guarantor of the checks and balances system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman in an exclusive interview on Friday.

"The Soviet Union actively promoted those principles of the Charter that are the most viable today — equality of sides, sovereignty of all the states, respect for the right of peoples to self-determination as a fundamental UN principle and the duty of each state is to ensure the right of peoples there so that these peoples are not oppressed," Lavrov said.

"This principle is rather topical today," he said ahead of the General Assembly’s session marking the 70th anniversary of the UN.

"Later on, we defended such key UN principles as the culture of compromise, the need to make every effort so that the Security Council, as a major body responsible for ensuring peace in the world, works based on collective and unified efforts," he said.

Lavrov stressed that the veto right is needed in any democratic system. Another case is when situations are provoked that would fall within the use of the veto, but sometimes for dirty political goals.

For example, the Western partners proposed resolutions like those related to the anniversary of the events in Srebrenica which have no practical meaning, he said. "With all due respect to the tragic facts, it is not the business of the Security Council to take up just one position when remembering the conflicts that happened not so long ago."

Similarly, "it is not the business of the Security Council to be involved in the criminal investigation of the catastrophe with the Malaysian Boeing," he said.

The full version of the interview will be aired on the Rossiya 24 TV channel in September in the special release of the "Formula of Power" program, "The United Nations — 70 Years."